Another day, another mass shooting. 2019.
- Dayton, Ohio - 9 dead, 27 injured
- El Paso, Texas - 22 dead, 26 injured
- Gilroy, California - 3 dead, 15 injured
- Brooklyn, New York - 1 dead, 11 injured
- Virginia Beach, Virginia - 12 killed, 4 injured
Mass shootings and shootings total 253 so far this year. That's more shootings than days.
First, in the map are many dots, each one represents a mass shooting. The map was put together by the Gun Violence Archive (www.shootingtracker.com). They consider a mass shooting as being 4 or more people shot and/or killed in one location and at one time. For reference, the FBI considers 3 or more to be a mass shooting.
Just this past week we have seen 4 mass shootings in my home country. What is wrong with that place? I'm struggling with what to make of it. My mind is boggled by what I see on the news. Never in my life has life in the US been so thrown out of sync, so far from the norm, upside-down. What's even more mind-boggling is how so many people continue to support the man who espouses hatred and racism, the man who encourages violence against other people simply because he himself doesn't like the color of their skin - who is that man? The Fool on the Hill, the President of the US.
The internet, the media, video games, television, immigrants - the Fool on the Hill blames those for the problem of mass shootings, he says those are the root problem. Those are not the reason for mass shootings. When I grew up we played "cowboys and Indians" pretend shooting each other with our toy guns, and if we didn't have toy guns we used sticks and pretended they were guns. We had other types of violent toys that we played with and those things haven't created a generation of murderers. He talked about social media companies developing ways to find and block those who write about violence against others.
The Fool simply uses those as scapegoats for his own failings. He fans the fuel that pushes these people over the line. So, if he wants more investigations, more examinations, of social media posts, etc, does that include investigation and examination of his own twit posts? Rather than seeking real solutions to gun violence he says video games and the internet and media are to blame and need more control. Seriously?
When another mass shooting happens immediately the shooter is said to be insane, crazy, mentally ill, etc. I don't mean to defend any mass-shooter, but consider this - These shooters, not all of them are mentally ill. Yes, they probably have some kind of mental issues, but literally, legally mentally ill? After a mass shooting people, family members and friends of the shooter, are interviewed and talk about the shooter. "Oh, he was such a nice, sweet, gentle, etc, young man. I would never have suspected he could do such a thing." Often we hear that they suspected there might be some problem of some kind - they had guns, trained to use them, wrote certain things on social media, said certain things to others, but nobody, none of the family or friends, said anything about it to anyone. Why? Why don't people report such things to someone in authority? Are they afraid to offend thier family member or friend? Would they be diagnosed as mentally ill if somehow they spoke with a psychiatrist before ever pulling a trigger? I can't judge them, you can't judge them, as mentally ill sickos. We want to believe that every one of those mass shooters is mentally ill, but the fact is, chances are, they weren't/aren't certifiably mentally ill. They may have some kind of issues to deal with, but actually, legally insane? Crazy? I've known people who I swear have some kind of mental illness, but I'm not qualified to make that judgement. And really, maybe they were just suffering extreme insecurity, low self-esteem, depression, etc.
There are 3 countries in the world that give their people the right to own guns in their constitutions. What countries are those? The US, Mexico, and Guatemala. What's different about those other two countries' constitutions from the US constitution? They have restrictions written in their constitutions in regards to guns, the US has no restrictions of any kind. That is one problem that has lead to where the US is today, people interpret the lack of restrictions as being equal to "everything is allowed". They completely ignore the society in which the constitution was originally written. In light of the lack of restrictions we should consider the period of time it was written, don't simply call it a blank check and fill in anything you want.
What can be done about? I don't have any perfect answer, nobody, absolutely nobody, has the perfect solution. But, I believe what we can do can include such things as ban all assault style weapons from private ownership; ban all clips larger than for 5 bullets for any and all weapons that use clips. Ban all semi-auto weapons of any kind from private use; None of that infringes on a person's right to own a gun for personal defense. Those weapons are designed for and meant for the military, not personal use. In the 1930's the US banned certain guns - tommy guns, machine guns, and guess what? The country did not come to an end. Life did not end. People did not cry and moan and protest. Also, make sure that every gun sale, every gun sale of any kind in any location in the country, by any person, must include a full universal background check. Then make the violation of those hurt the persons pocketbook so bad that they cannot imagine how they will pay it. Not jail time (jail is for violent offenders, not non-violent offenders), but a fine, a huge fine, a mortgage-the-house size fine. And, finally, modify the constitution. I know that is unimaginable to most US citizens. After all, that constitution is holier than the bible. But it desperately needs to be updated to the 21st century. That document is obsolete in many ways and patching it with amendments is only putting band-aids on broken bones.
Will banning certain types of guns end mass shootings? No, I'm not foolish enough to believe that. Will universal background checks end mass shootings? No. But those two things will certainly reduce the number and severity of mass shootings.
It's time to end all the talk and arguing about what to do about gun control and mass shootings. The time has come for a leader, a strong leader, not the lush in the Whitehouse now, to make the tough decisions without concern for what the Democrats and Republicanss will say about it. That leader needs to say I don't care what you think, this is what we are going to do, no more arguing about it, period, the end. And put this country back on the track it was on up until a few short years ago.