In which I am casually cruel and callous in hopes the point I make will help the greater good

[snowywolfowl]

Yesterday I saw a news flash that a school shooting had occurred so I immediately opened up CNN, determined that the shooting didn't occur in either Kentucky or Florida, and closed the story without bothering to read the rest of the details.

I mean really, why should I? None of my family were involved so it doesn't affect me. Today I don't have to schedule time off work, book a plane ticket, or get my suit dry cleaned. I don't have to go and help pick out a casket, write an obituary, or try to identify the body of a family member violated by bullets.  I don't have to worry about doing any of that for this one, so there's no reason to get over excited. As much as I enjoy keeping up on current events mass shootings in the US are like buses. Miss this one and you can just wait for the next one. They all lead to the same place and you know the route is never likely to change.

That and its frankly too hard on my mental health to focus on them anymore. Once Sandy Hook established that slaughtering elementary school kids isn't enough to make change happen I was done, defeated, kaput. If that couldn't move the pendulum towards sanity I can't imagine what could now.

Of course next year will be a bit different (and yet not) when my American born and raised step niece goes off to college. Just like yesterday I'll be summoned to a webpage on a news site by that routine headline, and again I'll read a few lines to determine that its nowhere near where she is. At least I hope that's how it goes. In a country where mass shootings have become an accepted part of the social fabric that type of blind stupid hope is the only thing I've got.

America, you know I love you but when it comes to the gun fetish insanity that is killing your people en masse, right now you are so fucked you might as well be an extra in a prison movie.

And it makes me cry.

Comments

[fen-wolfchile.livejournal.com]

Well said

[snowywolfowl.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I just wish I didn't have to do this every second week but since nothing is going to change that's just how it is.

Sucks, I know.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

We've actually been getting better overall.

Really, we do need to look at the trend - all male; almost always between 18-40; and all were "disturbed" or considered "odd" way beforehand. I'd love to see mental health screening being done in high schools on a far broader basis than is currently being done. I truly believe that would prevent at least some of this. Although, this case, it sounds like it might be domestic terrorism.

[snowywolfowl.livejournal.com]

Increasing health care for some of the most vulnerable in society is definitely something I can agree with. Considering though that both the Affordable Care Act and organizations that help with women's reproductive health get maligned and used to threaten government shutdowns I doubt that will happen anytime in the next decade, if ever. I just don't see any political will for that.

Ultimately as a society America has to decide whether these type of incidents are to be made relics of a past era or if they are to be the cost of doing business. And I mean that last part literally. America is awash in firearms and the slightest effort to try to stem the flood is met with resistance by the NRA and other lobbyists who are in the pockets of the gun manufacturers. When society's response to school shootings is to market kevlar backpacks to children, bullet resistance whiteboards to professors and to try to normalize carrying assault weapons into fast food restaurants then things are NOT getting better overall.

As for what is to be done? Well certain weapons are going to have to come off the street and out of the hands of the public. Assault weapons, hand guns, sniper rifles that can punch through a bus from a mile away, body armour...none of those things have any legitimate use in civilized society. They were weapons designed to kill people and unsurprisingly they work really, really well. As for the Second Amendment, well, it is an Amendment. If adding it then lead to a "more perfect union" that met the needs of the time when everyone brought their own musket to the army, then it can be changed to better reflect the needs of a society where you have a professional standard army that gives you a fully automatic assault rifle and full logistical and combined arms support.

I just hope America can make the changes it needs because the status quo is terrifying.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

The problem with the "Just get rid of all the guns!!!" is that it doesn't get rid of the actual problem. It's a bandaid over something that needs stitches. After all, this wasn't an issue when every household had a gun. Blaming the object doesn't address the underlying cause and, with that underlying cause still there, that anger, that hate, will just bubble up into a new form. No guns just means knifes (it was boxcutters on 9/11), cars (ram your car into a crowd), swords(certainly seen where someone takes a machete and just hacks everyone to death), and bombs. We can't ban objects and expect everything will be nice a pretty - particularly when one of the major issues is that guns seem to magically end up in the hands of those that legally aren't supposed to have them anyway.

Instead, what needs to be looked at is the driving force behind these incidents. It's either self radicalization or mental instability. With both, there is a mental health issue. Unfortunately, even psychology has become politicized with special interest groups. However, it still can help to detect and treat those with issues.

By becoming aware of the warning signs and knowing who to call when you see them, I think that will also help greatly in reducing incidents like these.

BTW, the NRA has been calling to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill for years.

[snowywolfowl.livejournal.com]

Well I do agree with you that improved mental illness help is part of the equation its not the only part here. All the mental health screening in the world isn't going to do much if the person still has access to weaponry and that has to be addressed.

To clarify my point let me share an observation that really struck me a few months back. Last year Canada had two radicalized homegrown jihadi attacks. In the first one a man rammed two Canadian Forces members with a car, killing one and wounding the other before being killed by police. In the second one a man took a 30/30 hunting rifle with a design that dates from 1894 into the Parliament, killing one person and wounding another before dying in a hail of bullets. So two attacks, four victims with a 2/2 split killed and wounded. The very next day in the US a 14 year old high school student took a semi-automatic handgun to school and killed 2 people and wounded 2 others.

My takeaway from this? That high school students in the US have access to better and more lethal weaponry than Canadian jihadis do. Now why is that? Because its too easy to get access to weapons that have no business circulating freely in society.

I'm not advocating that all firearms be banned, not at all. If a person wants a shotgun or hunting rifle for target shooting or hunting, sure let them be able to do that once they've passed the background check, taken courses to show competency in safe handling, and have the facilities to keep the weapon safely locked up when its not in use. But handguns on every hip and assault rifles so that people can defend themselves through superior firepower? No, that's playacting a fantasy that doesn't bear much resemblance to real life and American society is suffering for it. Weapons embolden people to do things that they normally think twice about doing and when they enter a conflict, bad things can happen. Would Zimmerman have followed Martin if he didn't have that pistol on his hip? Would that guy in the theatre have shot a man for throwing popcorn in his face? Would these mass shooters have killed as many people as they did if they didn't have guns that are specifically designed to kill as many people as fast as possible? Probably not and all involved would have been better off.

And finally I'd love for the NRA to show some leadership here because their potential to help could be immense. I'd suggest not threatening every politician with their wrath who says "Hey maybe we need to reconsider stuff here" would be a great start.