Let’s talk…without the NRA
I’ll never forget the day Columbine happened. I heard on the radio there was an active shooter in Columbine High School. I was shocked and wondering what the fuck is happening? I didn’t know anyone that went to Columbine, but being so close to home it became a really sad day for me. I remember driving home from work and seeing everyone looking distraught. You knew they were listening to the news updates on the radio. It was a day that seemed to last forever. It was a day that brought the unimaginable to reality.
We’ve been debating gun laws in our country for as long as I can remember. There are definitely two sides to this debate. All of the guns used in Columbine were obtained illegally. By law they should not have had those weapons. What else could the law do to prevent the Columbine shooters from obtaining those weapons? As long as the United States has 300 million guns in this country people will always have the opportunity to obtain illegal guns. But take a look at the Las Vegas shooter. He accumulated thousands of rounds of high powered ammunition and bump stocks to convert his high powered rifles to be fully automatic. He did this legally just like thousands of other Americans, thousands of other Americans who didn’t open fire on innocent civilians. I’ve never stood on one side of the fence on gun laws and I’ve always felt the conversation was too political for me to be involved with. That is until now.
Why at this moment? What’s the reason I’m choosing to engage now? Why not Columbine? Why not Sandy Hook? Why not the Aurora movie shooter? Why not Sutherland Springs? Why not Charleston? Why not Pulse? Why now? The reason is I don’t feel an honest discussion is taking place. The conversation has become politicized and isn’t taking place in the name of humanity. I don’t stand on either side of this debate, but I do feel the need to have this conversation. I do feel the need to pull the politics out of this conversation. I feel the need to explore both sides of this conversation and explore all the facts. I want to listen to what’s being said and I want to hear the truth. This is why I feel it’s time the NRA gets left out of this conversation. It is time that our elected officials say goodbye to the lobbyist and engage with the citizens.
These cruel attacks launched by the NRA on the Parkland survivors are what it is getting me engaged. Someone or something who openly attacks children who are freely engaging in conversation should be questioned for their intentions. My question to the NRA is what are you scared of and what are you trying to hide? The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School didn’t wake up February 14th looking for a way to get in the news, at least not this way. But what they have done since February 14th has been nothing short of amazing. They have out classed, they have out spoken and they have brought higher intellect to this conversation more so than anyone else I have heard. These students absolutely deserve a voice in this conversation.
I have many friends who own guns. I go target shooting with them. I don’t know single person who owns a gun that I don’t trust owning a gun, I want their voice to be part of this conversation. I’ve lived in towns where mass shootings have happened. These mass shootings have happened with legal guns and illegal guns. I want the people who have survived these mass shootings to be part of the conversation. I want anyone who is going to bring honest intellect to be part of the conversation. Let’s leave all the politics, all the preconceived talking points, all the rhetoric at the door and show the children we too are capable of having an honest conversation about a difficult subject.