Note: What you are about to read is simply an opinion of one not-quite-thirty year old liberal American mother of two that's a little bit tired and a lot a bit in a mood...don't hate, enjoy!
I'll be honest, I really haven't researched details about the shooter or the type(s) of gun(s) used. I also haven't looked at the timeline, how the situation was handled, or what law enforcement did to end it. I haven't read about all of the victims and why they did/didn't deserve it. I haven't looked at more than a few headlines...but that's all I really needed to know.
Because, here's the deal people: the only words we need to read are "mass murder." All we really need to know is that someone decided that it would be okay to just go and kill other people. All we need to focus on is that the people of our country have decided that the only logical response to anything is violence. We see it daily in the news: murder...attack...riot...brutality...violence. What is going on here?!
Well, for starters, I'm going to tell you that the way we handle mental health in this country is FUCKED UP. Mental illnesses are just that: ILLNESSES. Someone with depression should have the same access to care that someone with the flu, a heart condition, or cancer has. The reality, though, is far from this. We tell someone with these types of illnesses that they need to "grow a pair" or "get over yourself and deal with it." THIS IS NOT OKAY!!! THIS IS NOT GOING TO FIX ANYTHING!!! Then, if this person decides to reach out for help, guess what? They are probably going to wait at least 4-6 weeks to be seen by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist. Their insurance will probably give them all sorts of red tape or extra paperwork to complete, suggest something stupid like "step therapy" for their medications, or call into question the need for the treatment at all. Everyday there are people suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar, suicidal ideation, borderline personality disorder, intermittent explosive disorder...the list goes on and on. We are at an all time high for mental illness in our country, yet we are ignoring these issues. Why?! You can't tell me there's not a link between these increases in violence and mental illness. You just can't.
There's also the problem of what we are teaching our children. When adults resort to anger and violence to solve problems, what are children going to do in response? When we continue to be selfish and unwilling to cooperate as a nation and as citizens, what are students in a classroom or at a school going to model? When we are reactive instead of proactive to problems, how will it ever improve? It won't. We have to break the chain somewhere, we have to rise out of this hole we've let our people fall into. It starts with how we resolve conflict in our homes. It is modeled in how we collaborate in the work place. It is taught to our children simply by what they see us do, hear us say. It's in how we treat each other every single day, from when we buy our groceries to when we talk to our spouses, to the way we interact with the teachers at the school our children attend. It all matters.
Then, of course, there's the issue of gun laws and the wide availability of access to fast, powerful weapons and large amounts of ammo. Yes, it's true that there's no easy fix to this. We can't just slap up new rules everytime something happens...we aren't Dolores Umbridge and our country isn't Hogwarts...but, we seriously need to stop making excuses like "guns don't kill people, people kill people" or "this country was founded on the right for me to do what I want with a gun." We need to look at facts as facts, not say that every fact we disagree with is a lie. I am overweight, this is a fact. I don't like that I'm overweight, but I'm not going to argue with my doctor that he's just selling me "fake news" just because I don't like the fact that I'm a fat ass. The same thing is true regarding gun violence. Just because you are a responsible gun owner doesn't mean that there's not a problem with guns in our country; just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. We need to reconsider what is logical and within reason. We need to look towards the future instead of living in the over 200 year old past. We need to decide what is best for the people as a whole, not one person as an individual.
Everyday I look at my two daughters and worry; every single night my mind races with the list of things that I need to do to protect them. There's the normal parent fears: they might eat something that isn't food, they might fall off their bike and break a bone, they might not eat the right foods, I may not read to them and hug them enough. Then there's my own set of fears because of my past and my own anxiety: what if their classmates make fun of them because they have to wear glasses in the 2nd grade, can I trust that little boy who always wants to sit next to my oldest daughter at lunch, what about that new PE teacher who is only 25 and is teaching my 17 year old, is it okay for my youngest to have a sleepover at a house with parents I haven't known for 20 years. Now, on top of that, I have to be worried that everywhere we go, every movie we see or any outdoor event we think would be fun to attend, some man might have an assault rifle and an agenda...this is just getting to be too much!!!
Now comes my favorite part...you know what everyone in this country seems to think the RIGHT answer is? Buy their own gun and "pray for the victims." Are you serious here?!
Maybe here's some food for thought: maybe praying for the victims is all fine and dandy, but maybe we should refocus our prayer, my friends. Maybe instead of praying for people who are dead and probably already enjoying the eternal party "upstairs" we should be praying for those of us who remain after this newest devastation to see better ways to prevent this happening again. Maybe instead of praying for families who are mourning, we should consider also praying for the people we have selected to "run the country" to come together with level heads, sympathetic hearts, and a renewed strength to figure something out. Maybe instead of praying for yet another city left to deal with the aftermath, we should be praying for our country as it continues to sit on its hands with no change even after all of these mass murders that seem to be so popular now.
And now I will end this with everyone's favorite quote: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Isn't that what we're doing here, people? We keep repeating the same types of events over and over again, and every single damn time we are left with everyone spamming Facebook with "Pray for (insert city name here)!" and "You ain't taking away my guns, brah!" Can we stop with this remix already and come up with some new material? If not for you, if not for our country, at least for the future...at least for my own two daughters? At this rate, they won't even make it to the good parts of life like driving a car, drinking booze, having amazing sex, getting a college degree...they'll all be dead by then because someone will decide that their life is worthless...they'll die because Dwayne or Bobby over here can't see past the end of their nose that there's a difference between "my guns!" and innocent, beautiful lives that keep ending in bloodshed.
#rantover
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