For the most part I have stayed out of the circus that is the current hullabaloo over the recent school shooting and the uproar that has erupted since then. Instead I have simply sat back and watched as the (mostly) Conservative and Libertarian friends on Facebook made complete and utter fools out of themselves and proved their hypocrisy (waves at John McDuffie and Chaz Carsten) and the smaller number who have proven that they are completely ignorant and more than a little bit bigoted. (No names here, this is a family piece) The reasons for this are two fold. I don't usually make commentary either here or on social media unless 1. I actually have ideas about how to solve the problem, 2. I have something in the form of semi-clever or snarky comments to make about the subject and 3. I have actually been in just too good a mood to even bother. (Wait....1...2...3? Meh sue me, math was never my strong suit. In reality, the only strong commentary I made was right after the shooting when the student protests were first starting to get fired up. It was a simple one and I thought it was very clever. I will share it with you here so that you too can appreciate my cleverness....or mock me in hopefully clever ways.
As I have stated before, I don't have an answer to the horrors going on with mass shootings. I am not in the fairly small sub groups of A. TAKE ALL GUNS AWAY or 2. WE NEED TO GIVE GUNS TO EVERYONE! ESPECIALLY BABIES! Like most things in life (except for coffee of course) I believe that if there is an answer, it has to be in moderation. It must exist somewhere in the middle between the two loud groups which you see going on and on on TV and social media. But here is the kicker to me at least as far as getting people to support your idea. It is two simple words that will make you the hero of the hour in the eyes of the world. Ready? It is gonna blow your mind! Here it is. DO SOMETHING! Huh, what do I mean? It's not self explanatory? Okay, onwards with explainifying things then!
People, especially Americans are a fairly simple people. Easily distracted and easily tricked. I mean, come on! They elected Donald “Dumpsterfire” Trump to be POTUS for gosh's sake! He ran on a fairly empty and air headed platform with about as much substance as ghost poop. Anyone with any common sense can see he is woefully inadequate for the job. He was elected because he was loud and outspoken and at least pretended to want to make things different for America. People elected him because he pretended to want to fix everything that they thought was wrong with the country. All flash and no substance, but he convinced people that he would change things. Right now, people are angry. People are scared. People are...well kind of creepy, but that is beside the point. The Right is convinced that the Left is coming to take away their fully automatic, triple barreled machine flame throwers and the Left is convinced that the Right is planning on staging an armed rebellion against any state that doesn't serve Sweet Tea on buffets. “News” on both sides are sitting back and fanning the flames and politicians are tap dancing on the fence waiting to see which side to jump on.
So here is my suggestion and it is really not complicated. Do something. If your group is convinced that requiring DNA testing and an oath signed in blood in front of Elvis is the only way people should be allowed to own a gun and that the government should place secret alien tracking micro chips (That is tracking micro chips of alien design, not tracking chips designed to track aliens. That is a whole nother rant) in each bullet, then GO FOR IT! Rick Scott (Didn't see that one coming) and Florida of all places have passed stronger gun regulations and have earned accolades from the Left for taking steps to better regulate guns. More states and more politicians need to be convinced that this is the way to go if you think that guns are the problem.
Now if you feel that laws are for sissies and that regulations are the work of the devil, then go for it. If you think that the answer is to put .50 caliber anti aircraft guns at the doors to every school and to give all the teachers hand grenades, then start passing laws on state and Federal levels that will do exactly that. Heck have heavily armed flying drones orbiting every school in America just to make sure.
Whenever these horrible shootings occur events follow a fairly simple pattern. For a few weeks after the event, one side screams for stronger gun laws and more restrictions and the other screams about making schools safer by putting armed guards in them or arming the teachers. And up until now, once the uproar is over, nothing ever happens. EVER. The Right's cries for armed guards and such simply evaporate away because no one actually wants to spend any money on the solutioon. The Left's outrage vanishes like Trump facing a porn star because, in the end, no one in power really wants to be seen as pushing for restrictions on the 2nd Amendment. So the talk dies out and people forget until the next mass shooting and then the dance starts up all over again.
This time, the signs are there that things might just get done. Now whether these things are a good thing or a bad thing is beyond my fairly limited ability to predict, but it seems like a crucial point may have been reached where people are just too sick and tired to let talking be all that happens. So, if you really don't want THEM to win, then you and our so called leaders had better get up off their butts and do something. No more noise, no more smoke and mirrors. It is time for actions. If y'all don't act, then it is entirely possible that THEY (Ominous music inserted here) will win and that will mean the END of your way of life (Picturing a deep organ sound here like someone laid down on the keys really heavy.) It is time to put up or be shut out. Better get to work!
