There is something seriously broken about the United States. It goes deep to the bone.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
~ Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
There are various readings of the 2nd amendment. But I believe, that it is fair to say that there are generally three significant schools of thought: 1) That the amendment was in reference to a militia or 2) That the amendment is an absolute right for citizens to bear arms wholly unrestricted. 3) To various degrees, guns should be legal but controlled and regulated.
I’ve done some reading on the subject, but I can’t claim to be a scholar. I’m also not a ‘gun person’: I am not hunter or a gun collector or marksmen. I’ve had some fun firing a gun for target practice but if I never did it again, I’d not miss it for a second. But where I’m less neutral is in my understanding that the evidence shows that citizens are far more likely to be killed or injured by gun ownership than saved by guns.
That said, just because I’m not into something doesn’t mean that I casually dismiss the argument that Americans have the right to own guns. I’m very, very cautions about the idea of removing citizens rights. But I also don’t think that just because it is currently a constitutional amendment that such a debate is off the table. (There is the case of at least another amendment having been repealed. [The 18th]).
When you compare the United States to other countries that also have high-gun ownership, you find that we are a far higher rate of gun related homicides.
Nor can these deaths be waved aside as a matter of mental illness nor is it violent video games and movies. Other countries have all of those things in equal proportions.
And guns are now the leading cause of children’s deaths in the US. That is INSANE.
Through there lack of action, it is evident that there is one party who has clearly defended these deaths as an acceptable norm (in spite of their ‘thoughts and prayers’). The Trumpkin MAGA Party (formerly known as the GOP) uses guns (and other tactics) to distract and inflame their base while they pilfer the nation. If the Republican leaders really believed all of the bullshit that they said about how secure guns make everyone, then they would allow them in their conventions and rallies but they don’t, because they know the truth.
Since the latest school shooting at the Texas Robb Elementary School, I’ve seen conservative social media posts like this one:
From the supposed party of ‘law and order’, this sudden abdication of responsibility is almost funny if it weren’t for the deadly ramifications. But one wonders where such logic should stop? Does this only apply to laws meant to curb gun violence, or should we throw in the towel on all evil acts since evil, ‘does not obey laws’? It sounds as if they are setting the groundwork for The Purge.
Honestly, I could keep going and going with supporting statistics and logic, but facts seem to be out of favor with much of the population. I don’t have the energy for throwing my heart at that wall of willful stupidity.
We are a fearful nation. A nation that fetishizes guns. There is something broken in the spirit of this country. Something that we seem unresolved to correct.
Not counting the wounded, and not counting the emotionally devastated, I leave this post with the faces of those killed this week in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting.
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