So . . . there’s been another mass shooting. I think we’re
up to about one per day of so now. (Note,
that statistic comes from a source that uses a definition more broad than that used by the F.B.I.) And that is a
terrible thing. My thoughts and positive energy goes to the victims. That’s
about all I can do for them.
That’s not why I’m writing this. No, like everyone else, I
have my thoughts on the larger picture. First, if you know me, or have read any
of my previous writings, there is a good chance that you know a few things
about me:
1. I fucking despise the National Rifle Association (NRA). I
think they are festering boil on the American conversation concerning firearms.
They had a purpose once, but they abandoned that mission a long time ago.
2. I’m a huge supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I’ve
actually bothered to read what qualifies as a militia, and have read court
decisions concerning 2A. So don’t even bother trying to come at me with tired
old arguments about militias and shit.
3. I think guns are pretty fucking spiffy. I enjoy shooting
them, because it’s in our nature to get a kick out of wrecking shit and
watching shit go boom!
4. I do not, and most likely never will own a gun. Why?
Because I know myself well-enough to know that if I owned a gun, there’s a
solid chance I’d shoot someone, or myself since I’ve come real close to suicide
in the past. If I owned a gun, I’d be dead now.
Alrighty, that should cover my basic positions. If you go
online right now, you’re going to see four basic things coming from people:
1. Thoughts and prayers (a good thing).
2. People screaming that only if someone had been armed,
they could have prevented or lessened the tragedy.
3. People screaming that if only we had stricter gun
control, things like this wouldn’t happen.
4. If only we had better mental health care in this country,
things like this wouldn’t happen.
The people in #1 are correct. The people in #2, 3 and 4 are correct,
and yet, they are not.
2. It’s true every great once in a while that someone with a
gun is able to stop a tragedy from happening, but this is a very rare event. I mean stupidly rare,
to the point of not being worth mentioning. The simple fact is that in most
cases, even if there is someone on site who is armed, they are most likely not
trained for combat or high stress situations, and have as much a chance of
making things worse as they do of helping. So the armed populace defense is a weak
position at best. Americans own a lot of guns. Most of us are not prepared to use them
against another person.
3. Stricter gun control might reduce the number of shootings
a little bit, that’s true. I support background checks for all levels of gun
sales. But then I also think background checks are Meh. Why? Because a history
of mental health problems is about the only flag I support for denying a gun
sale. I’m a believer that if you have a violent crime in your background, but have done the time, then you should
still be allowed to purchase a firearm. I also think that violent felons who do
so should have such purchases registered in a national database, but only violent felons who used guns in their
crimes.
Sure, stricter gun controls might reduce the problem by a small bit, but only by a small bit. If you support control more strict than even
that, then we have nothing to talk about. Same goes for the people who will try
to bring up the statistics from other nations. This is one of those things
where American Exceptionalism is a thing and applies.
4. Lord knows that
health care in all areas in this country is still pretty shit and continues to
need addressing. Even the ACA is only a drop in the bucket. Too many people who
need mental health care are slipping through the cracks, and yes, some of them
are going to commit violent crimes, and yes, if our system wasn’t so poor, we
could probably prevent some of those crimes. Including some mass shootings.
The problem with all of those is that they are only
addressing symptoms of the disease, while utterly missing the disease itself.
Yes, mass shootings are becoming tragically common. This is
not the result of unrestricted capitalism, as Chris Kluwe, a pretty smart and
thoughtful person for whom I have a lot of respect, would have you believe.
It’s not the result of ease of availability as so very many
people would have you believe.
It’s not because of “gun culture”, which is a thing, and not
an inherently bad thing.
It’s not because of lobbying by the NRA.
It’s not because of a desire for increased profits by gun
manufacturers.
It’s not even because for years, the Right has been
screaming about how the Left, and particularly Obama, are trying to take our
guns away.
All of those are scapegoats, easy targets upon which you can
place blame without digging deeper.
Gun ownership isn’t particularly high, crime isn’t
particularly high, and gun control hasn’t been systematically dismantled,
allowing every Joe Bob and his hound dog to suddenly have guns that they didn’t
have before.
No, all of those reason are, essentially, bullshit.
The reason mass shootings are up is because over the last 20
years, something fundamental in our culture has broken. The American zeitgeist has become twisted and warped. Years
of petty national petty bickering, polarization, the rise of celebrity culture,
the installation of the idea that fame is something everyone should try and
achieve, insidious racism, our “monkey see, monkey do” nature, it’s all part of the problem.
Media panders to the lowest common denominator, and says “Hey!
Look! You can be famous for being uneducated slobs!” Journalism thrives on
giving every single viewpoint a voice, and giving dipshits 15 minutes of fame,
because it’s on the same level as shit like Honey Boo Boo. The politicians work
hard every single day to lie their asses off in order to polarize their bases,
turning what should be relatively civil policy discussions into ideological
wars in which the other side is the fucking Antichrist. The preachers hammer the idea that their
stupidly dominant faith is actually under attack and all of the believers are
being persecuted.
While all of this had already started, 9/11 and the response
by the government and media helped solidify this broken mentality. The reaction
and manipulation of that event helped to create clear divides. You’re either
with us or against us.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that socially, we’re
undergoing some pretty dramatic changes. When I was a kid, it never even
occurred to me to think about gay marriage. But we live in a time where it’s suddenly
(and rightfully so) legal. Trans* are slowly starting to see social gains. People
are pointing out that things like the Confederate battle flag are maybe not
fucking okay. People are starting to realize that we’ve been fucking women over
since the dawn of time, and maybe we shouldn’t do that.
Shit is changing.
And on the time scale of nations, it’s changing pretty damn quick. And there
are some pretty basic truths about people:
1. On some level, we love
playing the victim. It makes us feel special.
2. We fucking hate
change.
3. We are terrified
of the Other.
These things are breaking our cultural minds. As they should be. We’re changing as a
culture, and that change is bad for
the people in power, so they work even harder on polarizing the majority populace,
on making them feel victimized and persecuted, on drawing clear battle lines. Because
they know that their grip on things is slipping, and they will fight tooth and
claw to prevent that. Because power is a hell of a drug.
What’s my point in all of this and what does it have to do
with mass shootings?
My point is that these shootings and shit are birthing pains. If we truly want to address the cause, then we
have to continue to push for change in this country. And I don’t mean gun
control, I mean fundamental change. We keep pushing for people to be treated
like people regardless of whom they fall in love with or what their
reproductive organs are. We keep pushing for equality in our society. For justice.
This shooting is a tragedy, as they all are. But people, as
they say, this shit is going to get worse before it gets better. Because it’s a
reaction to a future that is barreling our way at high speeds.
And we need to keep pushing for that future. Frankly, it’s
our only hope.
Be safe.
