Yesterday was a horrible day that will live in our memories as Americans. I just could not go another hour without sharing my thoughts on this. It has so affected me I refuse to believe we can’t do more to change the laws here.
Beautiful humans- mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters, sons, daughters and friends lost their lives in another senseless act of gun violence. We cannot pray or say our hearts are with the victims anymore. The words are sounding hollow, especially as they were echoed by multiple congressional Republicans yesterday whose own campaigns have been padded with NRA funds. Something must be done before our country as we know it is gone forever.
The fact is America has put the right to own whatever weapons we chose, above the safety of us all. After Newtown and the slaughter of small children in their classrooms with their teachers, we still did not pass gun legislation. Unbelievable. Our apathy knows no bounds. The NRA continues its reign over the Republican congress who seem to have black hearts. How they live with themselves I do not know, and this group includes Paul Ryan and Mike Pence. Trump spoke at an NRA gathering in April and promised to ‘Come through for them,’ and that he would ‘Expand gun rights.’
Tell me what about gun rights needs to be expanded?
Just one of the great charts by Vox show we have too many gun rights.
Polls show a majority of Americans are for safe and effective gun control. So why aren’t our politicians following through on this? No one needs automatic weapons and machine guns. We need to follow the example of Australia, who changed the gun culture in their country after a mass shooting by buying back guns and making gun laws much more stringent. It has been amazingly effective and they have now one of the lowest gun violence rates in the world. This great article with gun facts and studies on Vox tells the statistics and facts we should all see about how gun ownership affects our safety in so many ways.
What makes us defend weapons that kill so many? No idea. Apparently some believe it is for personal safety. The NRA keep peddling myths like guns will be confiscated and you’ll need to defend yourself. Don’t forget your Second Amendment Rights. ( Written at the founding of our country when we needed a militia.) You have the right to bear arms. Against what? The zombie apocalypse? The crime rate in the United States is the lowest it’s ever been. Statistics and study after study show that those who live in homes with guns are personally more at risk for homicides- to be killed with their own guns or to have a family member commit suicide.
Allowing any kind of gun purchase with no regulations on the internet and without background checks leads to anyone buying them. Other nations have tough tests one needs to pass to register and use a gun and rules about storage of firearms you must obey. Not here. Each state can have its own laws, which makes it easy to buy in one and bring to another. Storage? Go ahead and leave it under your bed if you want. Frightening.
It is also easier to get a gun than a driver’s license thanks to the NRA’s insidious influence on our laws. Thus we have a country where we openly carry guns in some places and some even believe in vigilante justice, taking the law into their own hands to protect themselves. I ask you has any of these shootings been stopped by gun toting individuals? No.
I do not wish for my children to live in such a world, do you? We can do better. Let’s look to other nations who have less guns and their correlating death rates- lower suicides, homicides, and mass murders. This video is excellent in pointing out the fact that remains indisputable – less guns equal less gun deaths. It’s simple math and cannot be refuted.
We’ve got this. We are stronger together. There are so many of us who are done with this way of living among guns. Let’s be the change by doing all we can to save our country from this scourge. By pushing for laws, only voting for those who support gun control, and beginning initiatives like gun buy-backs through independent endowments we support or start we can make a strong start. Read here about how this excellent buy back program in Australia caused deaths to plummet. These are just some ideas, but we need to hear more and think out of the box. If we begin today and work towards this every single day, maybe we can make this country safer for future generations.
I refuse to live in a nation that is normalizing mass shootings and where moms carry their guns in their baby bags to Walmart. I want us to live in peace together without weapons.
Let’s value the lives of humans in our country over the ability to own any weapon we want.
Thank you for listening,
Kim
Some places to start.. Join these online, like them, contribute, share and get involved as soon as you can. We need to make this movement as huge as the women’s march and we need everyone to participate.
Mom’s Demand Action for Gun Sense In America momsdemandaction.org
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence csgv.org
Everytown for Gun Safety everytown.org
The Brady Campaign bradycampaign.org
Newtown Action Alliance newtownaction.org
Violence Policy Center vpc.org
Americans for Responsible Solutions americansforresponsiblesolutions.org
States United to Prevent Gun Violence ceasefire.org
Stop Handgun Violence stophandgunviolence.org
