Hear the Kids!

The Florida youth who survived the Parkland school shooting have said a lot. They have issued articulate comments and conversations – mostly off the cuff – with pungent meaning. And effect. They were there. They heard the screams. They lost friends.

But mostly, they felt attacked. Unsafe. Vulnerable.

Vulnerable unto death with no one hearing the larger cry – Why?

They want answers. They asked the Florida legislature to consider methods to address the school shooting problem. They asked their elders to make this school shooting the last one. At least try.

And the nation heard them. For two weeks. Just like the earlier shootings. Two weeks of hand wringing and serious thought.

Then it was over. Debates about 2^nd Amendment rights snuffed out legislative solutions. Even Florida’s senate quashed a ban on assault rifles.

And Congress? What are they doing or planning on this issue? Anything? I doubt it. The sounds from the backrooms of DC are not promising. Much the opposite; other topics have leapt to the top of the agenda for Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. They control the agendas. They were elected by their cronies to blockade national interests for the sake of their political party. And financial donors. And ideologies of small government.

Their mantra is ‘don’t tread on me’ but not in the same sense that phrase was coined in New Hampshire in the 1700’s.

I’ve heard gun rights supporters claim banning weapons of any kind will not solve the problem. What problem is that, I ask? What exactly is the ‘problem’ you think we the people are asking to be solved? Do you even know?

All I want is a reduction of gun deaths in my country. 30,000 and more die each year from shootings in America. 30,000 souls. A terrible toll. And there are statisticians who would argue the number is far greater.

Oh, and another thing; I want school shootings to be eliminated. Period. We owe that to our kids and grandkids.

Please remember, there are causes and effects for most problems and those are studied and researched heavily. But not cause and effect with regard to gun ownership; that subject matter has been legislated by Congress to be off limits. No research using federal dollars is allowed on guns, ownership of guns, or the cause/effect relationship between guns and shooting deaths. Hard to believe but it is true.

Banning assault rifles from private ownership is a first good step. Only police and military organizations should be allowed to own these weapons.

If there are other means to eliminate school shootings, let’s explore those and consider implementing them. To sit back and say ‘it won’t solve the problem’ is not an answer. It is an avoidance of responsibility.

We must find the cause of these shootings. This is a complex matter. We need to know more to guide reasonable and responsible action. We must try to lessen the problem. Guns are the tool used in killing. Widespread ownership of guns is part of the problem. Controlling who can acquire guns is part of the answer. Controlling who can use a gun is another part of the answer.

I am not against gun ownership. I’m not out to ban all guns. And I’m not against the 2^nd Amendment. I just don’t want marauders armed with assault weapons roaming our streets out to ‘get’ anyone they don’t trust. Or don’t like. This isn’t the old West of the 1800’s.

Our society is sophisticated and densely populated. It cannot allow assault weapons and uncontrolled numbers of weapons on our streets in urban areas. That is pure folly.

If elected officials can’t research these issues and make informed decisions and legislation, then we must find another way to solve the problem. Perhaps it is up to the gun owners themselves? If you want the right to own and bear arms, police your fellow gun owners to do the right thing. The laws on the books now are so watered down as to be meaningless. They were designed that way to protect the 2 Amendment. Such laws are ludicrous and everyone knows it.

Meanwhile, the retailers are doing what no one else is willing to do. They are banning the sale of such weapons, ammunition, and accessories in their stores. That will help but it won’t solve the whole problem.

I guess for that to happen, a lot of responsible people will have to work hard and together on this issue. If not for them, at least for the kids.

Millennials are aging quickly and soon will vote. Fix the problem now, or watch these youth fix it themselves at the ballot box.

March 5, 2018