A dear friend of mine is currently living a parent’s worst nightmare.
On the Fourth of July, her son went to a street party in the nearby city of Hayward, California to do what millions across this country did on that day: celebrate America. According to news reports, there were a few groups, totaling about sixty in number, milling about in the residential neighborhood. Laughing, eating, drinking, and having a good time. Once darkness fell, they sent a few fireworks exploding into the sky.
It was at that point that the celebration turned tragic as an argument ensued and at least two people pulled out guns and began to fire at each other. Once the shooting stopped, six people were wounded. Two critically. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. One of the wounded is believed to be one of the shooters. Another is my friend’s son.
I’m not going to go into his condition because it’s not my place to disseminate that information. I will tell you that he survived and will hopefully be all right. As I said, his mother is living every parent’s worst nightmare. I’d say that my “thoughts and prayers” are with her family, but that trite phrase is quite frankly bullshit. It’s used by elected officials in the pocket of the National Rifle Association to avoid dealing with the raging epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings we are seeing in this country. We’ve seen the carnage in schools, churches, synagogues, grocery stores, clubs, parties, movie theaters, offices. We’ve seen it in places where there are large gatherings and places where there are few congregating. We’ve even seen people shot to death who were just driving down the freeway. No place is safe, and no one is immune.
In recent days, I’ve had conversations with several friends who tell me that the threat of gun violence is something that they subconsciously live with on a daily basis. A college student I know told me that he just realized that when he goes to his college classes, the first thing he does is look for an exit. A way he can get out of the classroom if somebody starts shooting. He didn’t realize that he does that, but it’s a habit. Ditto another friend who told me that she does the same thing when she goes to a movie. She picks a seat that’s near an easily accessible door so that there’s an escape route. I find that when I am in crowds or in a confined space like a club, a theater, or a gathering, I do the same thing. It’s subconscious behavior, but I do it.
We shouldn’t have to live this way in America. We shouldn’t have to worry that we might end up dead sitting in a church pew because a handful of greedy, power hungry, cowardly politicians are kowtowing to a corrupt yet powerful lobby. The hypocrisy of some of these people is astounding.
Ron DeSantis of Florida is banning books and drag shows to “protect” children, yet he signs a bill into law that allows people to carry concealed firearms without a permit of any kind. Literally, the very first executive order that Donald Trump signed as president was one to make it easier for mentally ill people to buy and possess guns. Certain members of Congress will lose their collective minds over whether or not we should be allowed to cook with gas-powered stoves, yet they’ll fight to the death to keep assault weapons on our streets. Weapons that belong on a battlefield, not in the hands of some coward who needs to prove his masculinity by firing off a machine gun. They want you to show identification to exercise your constitutional right to vote, yet they oppose requiring any kind of documentation to buy something that can kill people.
The overwhelming number of Americans, close to 70%, want reasonable gun control laws. They want guns out of the hands of stalkers and the mentally ill. They want AR15s and weapons of war out of the hands of civilians. They want background checks. They want waiting periods. They want limits on how much ammunition one person can own and how many guns constitute too many in the hands of an individual.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
That’s what the gun nuts hang their hats on, yet they always seem to ignore the “Well regulated militia” part. And no, a bunch of rednecks in military fatigues, playing army in the woods does not constitute a “well regulated militia.” These folks claim to be constitutional literalists. They want what “the Founding Fathers wrote.” Well, they sure as hell weren’t writing about assault weapons and guns that can fire as many rounds as your trigger finger can squeeze off. They were talking about muskets. If you want a musket, knock yourself out. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for the nearest exit.