Enough Unnecessary Tragedy, Time to Disarm America and the NRA

Another horrible gun attack took place today in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary school, early reports are that 26 people have been murdered, 18 children and 8 adults. Details are very sketchy right now, latest reports are that there was one shooter, allegedly his name is Ryan Adam Lanza, around 24 years old. His mother was an elementary school teacher at this school which is where he shot her and many of the children in her classroom. As always, early reports are not always reliable so take this information with measure.

Of course, the first attention and great compassion should be focused on the parents and families of those who have been killed and wounded. For any parent, especially those of the youngest and most vulnerable children of elementary school age, this is the kind of nightmare that is unimaginable.

As the days go by though and the emotional and human side of this attack are addressed, there needs to be a united response to the NRA and their political puppets in the GOP and on Fox News when they say, “This is not the time to talk about gun control.” The response needs to be, “This is exactly the time and we’re not only going to talk about, we’re going to do something about it!”

Earlier in the week there was a shooting in a Portland, Oregon shopping mall that killed 2 people. A week and a half ago, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend then shot himself. In August, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a gunman shot 6 people in a Sikh temple. In July, there was the mass shooting killing 12 people in Aurora, Colorado at the Dark Knight Rises opening, an unarmed 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by the shameless and lying murderer, George Zimmerman…sadly, a larger list could be provided.

The question is, in order to protect the profits of the firearms industry, which is the sole reason the NRA actually exists, do we as Americans have to accept murderous gun attacks on innocent children and adults on an almost monthly basis? This is insane, there is NO other industrialized country that has this kind of proliferate mass murders by independent, well armed citizens. And there is no other nation as insane about making it easier for more people to have more guns…let alone passing laws that not only allow but encourage people to shoot other people by letting them claim after the shooting that they felt threatened, as the Stand Your Ground laws do.

As is no secret, an unholy alliance has been successfully built between the manipulative corporate gun industry and Republican and rural voters. The GOP has happily rolled over for the NRA and their alliance in return for voters (as the unapologetic prostitute the GOP is) and there are a number of Democrats, especially in red and purple states who echo the same pro-gun agenda out of fear for their re-election.

The bullshit is that all of these people care about The Constitution. Instead, this obsessiveness over the 2nd Amendment is all about greed for the gun industry, power for the NRA and both of those things for politicians.

They have other BS justifications that don’t pass the facts or logic test. First, people need guns to protect themselves in their homes. Put aside the studies showing that there are next to no incidents in a given year of people “protecting themselves” in their home (from who or what?), let’s go with anecdotal evidence. We all know how “sexy” a story like that would be to the media, they’d broadcast it all day but how many incidents have been heard of on local or cable news where anyone protected themselves in their home from harm solely because they had a gun? Now count how many times you’ve heard stories about someone shooting their spouse, family member or some other person in their home because a gun was available?

And this involves a kind of twisted logic. Gun industry corporations, through the NRA and ALEC also promote the concept that people need guns to protect themselves from “bad guys” who have guns. It’s really sociopathic, they are essentially trying to make it sensible that the solution to bad people having guns is not to prevent bad people from getting guns…because they represent good paying customers as well…but to just use them as an excuse to sell more guns to “good guys”.  And the stats are that thanks to lax laws and guns being sold at gun shows, around 40% of all legally owned guns are bought without any background check. So there is an active system protected by the NRA that promotes the sale of guns to the mentally ill, terrorists, etc.

Our government has been so detached from the majority of the population on so many issues, on the economy and tax fairness, on gay rights, on drug laws, on immigration but when it comes to supporting the gun culture in the U.S., they are actually right with the majority that has been misled into thinking that the freer guns are, the freer they are.

It is high time that the vocal minority opposing loose gun laws and the gun culture in America step up and turn around those who have been manipulated into thinking that building a more dangerous environment for us and our kids will somehow keep us safer.

No, this is not about reversing the 2nd Amendment or trampling on any Constitutional rights, it’s not about outlawing guns. It’s about having a rational and sane policy about the acquiring of guns (ammunition laws could go a long way!) and their availability to those who shouldn’t have them.

The gun industry, the NRA and the GOP know what an easy game this is for them to win. As long as they can instill fear, fear of those who are black and Latino, fear of a tyrannical government, fear of terrorists (ironic that gun owners have proven to be the majority of terrorists who have acted out in this country), fear of the unknown and the foreign, they have their “army” marching under them. What makes the job of the sane people harder is that they usually can only use intellect to reason instead of emotion.

Except when a horrible thing like this happens…which is why at such moments, the NRA and their pawns fight aggressively against any discussion about gun control even being mentioned. Any person with a fraction of humanity can’t help but be disgusted and appalled that a 24 year old can have such easy access to a murderous weapon and end the lives of so many children who will never grow up and have a chance to even learn what the 2nd Amendment is. Now is a time that the voices of those opposing the proliferation of guns would be heard by some who otherwise might tune them out. So the campaign begins today by the Right Wing to shoot down any conversation about gun control.

Now is not the time to discuss this? No, this is exactly the time to discuss this and they know it. Those who agree should be very visible and vocal, contacting President Obama, their US Senator and House Representative, now is indeed the time to act and fight back against this corporate-backed terrorism.

Today we mourn and send prayers and best thoughts to those suffering with the results of this horrific act. Tomorrow, we need to stand up against the escalation, against more and more senseless gun murders, against an America where the arbitrary murdering of innocent people isn’t accepted as necessary to protect the rights of gun manufacturers and the re-election of Republicans and conservative Democrats.

Now is not only the right time to talk about the growing threat of gun violence in our society, it’s the right time to do something about it.