Stop the Senseless Loss

The "freedom" to own guns in this country ought to be a point of shame. Our lax gun laws and availability of firearms to the general public is something that other nations find amusing, if not alarming.

And despite numerous armed murders, assaults, and robberies, the laws have not changed. People argue, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." We glorify violence and weaponry in our media and entertainment. We allow people to entertain ideas of owning guns for purposes of hunting, protection, or simple novel interest. And because of these "freedoms," we allow the senseless loss of life on our streets and in our schools and public spaces. We all have blood on our hands. 

The New Yorker posted a piece on Saturday, "One More Massacre," by Adam Gopnik, that says it far better than I can, so I will keep this post brief. 

Essentially, these massacres will keep happening in our public spaces should we not do something. The second amendment protects people's rights to own guns; it also takes away people's rights to live in safety and free from fear. The sad thing we all know is that this is not new. This has happened, and it will happen again. People die by gunfire near nightly on the DC streets I walk by day. 

"How does one argue with someone convinced that the routine massacre of our children is the price we must pay for our freedom to have guns, or rather to have guns that make us feel free?" Gopnik asks. (Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/07/aurora-movie-shooting-one-more-massacre.html#ixzz21q5i6Ay1)

Guns were created with the purpose of killing. Why is it so surprising when they do just that? What good would it have done if someone in the crowd at the movie theater had a gun with them? As Krystal said to me, we can't just go back to the days of the Wild, Wild, West, and just shoot who shoots us. Being vengeful and letting every man serve justice is not the answer to this dilemma--this would lead to anarchy and demise. 

Let's celebrate freedom with clean and safe streets and long and prosperous lives for all. Let's celebrate the freedom to go to a movie "just for fun." Let's find freedom in knowing that schools and work places are safe. We must act now, we cannot sit back and watch this senseless injustice continue. When we fight for the rights to own guns, we are fighting for the rights of the crazy, deranged, and blood-thirsty. We are giving a God-like power to men who cannot be trusted to use it well. When we create movies and TV shows where it looks cool and exciting to use weapons and when violence is approved for general audiences, it becomes ingrained in our culture. When we show mass killings in our entertainment, we devalue human life. Even in The Dark Knight Rises, many, many people were killed throughout the movie. And yet the movie went on, and justice was served, the lost lives just part of it. We have devalued our neighbors life and put ourselves at the center (but that's another post).
When we fight for bans on weaponry and fire arms, we are giving power to the people to live in the very definition of freedom. Imagine this country if there were no guns: less bag searches and privacy violations, less fear after dark, less random and calculated violence and tragedy. When we restrict access to guns, we open access to a rich and satisfying life for all. 

--Megan