Wander the malls festooned with fake glitter and false boughs of pine, blasting Christmas carols of peace on earth and goodwill towards all men. Peace and goodwill, one has to wonder how we accomplish this wondrous peace and goodwill when one of our nation’s most dominate and viciously protected rights is the ‘right’ to bear arms.
“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.”
Goodwill indeed, twenty children under 10 years of age dead, twenty-eight people in all but TWENTY CHILDREN shot to death in their classroom. Twenty mothers and fathers, who will never again kiss their children goodnight, never again tuck them in at night. Twenty parents, who will not see their children grow to adulthood, who will not watch with pride as their children graduate, marry and have children of their own. All their dreams lay wasted at the end of a gun wielded by a twenty year old with access to the legal guns of his mother. LEGALLY OBTAINED GUNS.
The Second Amendment is ensconced in our national psyche, come hell or high water we will hang on to our effing guns. No matter the innocent lives laid in the cold ground, the families in mourning, by God and all his Angels we will keep our guns and our ammunition and our rights to bear it all without interference of any kind. No one will touch those rights, no matter what. My and other people’s personal right to safety on the streets, in the mall, in theaters or in the classroom will 
never be considered, we do not count in the grand scheme and neither do any other gun violence victims. So long as the Neanderthals in the NRA can convince enough people it is viable they might someday need to protect themselves from the government, or save a life during a mass shooting, or battle a zombie horde by keeping a well-stocked arsenal in their basement and a side-arm concealed, just in case.
Without Registration and without Limitations, we will by all that is holy and by Hell and the Damned, protect our Right to Own our Arsenal, to Conceal Carry and there is not a damned thing anyone can do or say to limit this right. If anyone suggests otherwise they will be demonized, they will be called fanatics; they will be debrided, sometimes painfully so. They will certainly be taken to hard task for their unpopular position; friends and family will drive them into corners with meme that are not defensible in the face of the innocent lives lost.
I have been lashed with it all before and those who have lashed me both friends and family forget sometimes I was left on a dark road with three bullets in me bleeding out and dying but they by God thought it important for me to know I was an effing idiot for my position. So be my guest in the future, call me a fanatic. I am sick in my soul of hearing about gun rights and the Second Amendment. Call me a fanatic, those of you who believe your rights outweigh my rights or the rights of the following:
- the twenty children and six adults dead today at Sandy Hook elementary school
- those wounded in the mall last week in Oregon
- the twelve dead Aurora victims
- the two teenagers victims of Stand your Ground killings in Florida in this past year (Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis)
- or tell Nick Rainey the 30 year-old salesman also killed in Florida, with a defendant also using the nefarious Stand your Ground defense
- Gabby Gifford and the six dead in the same shooting victims of the Arizona shooting
- the victims at the Sihk Temple in Wisconsin
- the Chardon victims, Daniel Parmertor, 16; Demetrius Hewlin, 16; and Russell King Jr., 17
These are just 24 months’ worth of random killings or attempts at them. We thought Aurora was terrible, we mourned for a brief moment social media blew up for a minute, apparently not hard enough or long enough. We demanded justice for Trayvon, but barely blinked for Nick or Jordan. The Chardon victims barely made the news, and the Ohio mall was not even a blip on our radar likely because there was no massacre, no random death to titillate us or incite the media for hour upon hour, day upon day.
There are more, there are always more aren’t there? The children lying in the streets of our cities mowed down by illegal guns. The women and sometimes their children, lying in pools of their own blood murdered by their partners by legal guns in fits of rage. Yes, please call me a fanatic, call me a zealot, call me anything at all I simply do not give a damn what you call me because I am all those things. I will become all those things, I will stop here and now trying to strike a balance between politically correct and my honest belief guns are no longer needful things in the hands of private citizens without limitations, regulation or oversight.
I am tired of all of it, the senseless death, the random violence the terrible and horrifying loss of life. I am tired of children losing their life before they reach adulthood. I am sick of the politics of money taking the front seat to the lives of people. I am tired and worn out, heartsick as I watch news of the shooting of Sandy Hook Elementary and the 26 deaths at the school, plus the shooters mother in her own home and by one of her own legal guns. I am sick to death of those who wrap themselves in sanctity and patriotism, scared to say no more, it is time to change the rules and be damned the NRA and the love affair with violence and guns.
I am bored with the idiotic motto of fools with guns and a love of random and unnecessary violence, ‘Guns don’t kill people, people kill people’.
Well, I guess Sandy Hook Elementary School just goes to show what happens when a Human is wielded by a Gun doesn’t it?
I am effin’ tired of the idiots who suggest a car is an equally dangerous weapon. Or murder would still happen with a knife if a person wanted murder, yes you azzhats that is true however, a lunatic with a knife could not kill TWENTY CHILDREN in less than 5 minutes.
This morning the bodies of the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims have not been moved from where they fell. The children remain on the floor of the school, unreleased to their families, as the school remains a Crime Scene under investigation.
I weep for the families, all of them. I know what my family went through when I was shot and left for dead. I know what I go through even now twenty years later. These survivors, the children will need enormous support systems for years to come. The families who lost children will never fully recover, their loss is unspeakable what they have lost will never be recovered.
I tire of hearing ‘now is not the time, each and every time a tragedy happens and we see terrible loss’, I must ask if not now then when?
QBG_Tilted Tiara 
I thank you and love your passion & heart & soul… ❤ Xxxx KISSES from MN.
I clicked like. I’m not sure that was appropriate, but I agree with what you say. The gun culture is also the culture of violence on screens large and small.
Killing off the ‘enemy’ on a hand-held computer requires great reflexes, but doesn’t this breed a lack of conscience, morality, consideration for others?
Can children really grow into sensible thinking adults if their problem solving at the lowest level is to kill?
Can they tell the difference between avatars and real people any more?
Pat, Hello and thank you for your comments. I think you are correct at least on one level. Media, movies and games has certainly desensitized our young people and we are seeing the evidence of this. I suspect there is more, but this is one of the problems. I think it is a layered problem, access to weapons, love affair with violence, lack of opportunity, lack of education; there is likely more.
We are indeed seeing the results though of our love affair with violence.
Val
Mental illness isn’t the first equation which enters my mind after the last dozen horrendous shootings in the past short while. What comes to mind is TOO easy access AND the surreal and anesthetized sense so many humans have because of movies and video games. I do believe easy access is the culprit to rein in.
How I hate all this killing. Children. Poor, innocent children…
Mental illness isn’t the first thing that enters my mind either. Certainly, we are all quick to jump to the easy rope they dangle in front of us. They have to be crazy to do this. But reality is, most mass murderers are not actually ‘crazy’, not truly mentally ill. We have to stop looking for excuses and start looking for the real culprits.
I agree with you. Easy access to guns, to visions of violence. To a nation that worships both.
I was watching an episode of “Charlies Angels” once on TV. (boy what an inane programme – but anyway) I remember nothing about the show except a startling thing. The three women were in a room, and a man came in and all three girls pulled their guns out and pointed them at him. A conversation took place. Slowly it became apharent that this man did not constitue a threat.
Well they continued the conversation, reasonably amicably, but still holding their guns, only they had wilted in their hands somewhat and were pointing increasingly downwards. They could have been holding cooking utensils. It struck me at the time that there was a casualness in three people pulling deadly weapons on someone. I have seen it often in films and on TV where long conversations take place at the point of a firearm. It’s a bit like the way all major actors would be required to smoke in a scene.
We have become desensitised to the reality of these damn things.
You are absolutely correct, we are a culture entirely desensitized to violence. In truth we are a culture that celebrates it, in our video games, in our movies, in our television shows. We don’t stop. We somehow think it is grand fun to pillage, kill, rape and plunder; the more the merrier. Then we wonder what is wrong with our children, why bullying is on the upswing, why murderers are younger than ever.
I do not understand why we think this okay. I do not understand why we fail to make the connections.
So well said, and from a position of real knowledge. I keep my blog light-hearted, but life sometimes demands that we be serious. So thank you for your intelligent, serious response.
Thank you my friend. I don’t know how intelligent it was, honestly it came from such a deep well of rage I am afraid it just poured out. There are times though, I think that sometimes that is the only response we legitimately have.
Thanks for your passion and wearing your heart and soul on your sleeve.
I think Frank it is time more of us step up, lose the pragmatism and our fear of being labeled zealots. It is simply time to say no more.
I find it hard to click the “like” button as it seems so inappropriate. I wish there was an “agree” button instead. In 1996 Australia had a mass shooting at Port Arthur in which 35 people were killed. In direct response our Prime Minister changed gun laws. It became illegal to have a gun without a license (which expires every few years) , a secure cabinet and a damn good reason to possess one. . People who were a) hunters b) farmers c) belonged to gun clubs d) police/armed forces etc were able to obtain a license but everyone else were required to hand in their fire arms.
We had some people rant that Australia would be overrun by gangs and bikies but this has not happened, nor have we had any mass shootings since.
It is outrageous to think human beings have to live with deadly weapons in their friggin HOME!!!! Get a goddam taser.
I would also like to add that America, Australia and every other civilized society should be collectively shaking their heads at their “mental health” programs. Despite the media calling this young man, who killed these young children “the devil” , he was a very sick human being that had probably slipped through the cracks. The warning signs were there. We should spend time and money washing away this friggin mental illness “stigma” and bring it out in the open.
We look across the world at the other nations and say “yes, but our roots are deep and theirs are not,” I call BS, we are a young nation, our love affair with guns and violence is simply ridiculous. So many nations have take a different road successfully.
I am with you on the mental health issue, but am reluctant to allow the United States the NRA and Congress the ‘out’ of mentally ill. It is the easy out, point the finger at mental illness and we don’t have to address the gun issue.It is a quagmire.
A quagmire indeed.
It is interesting though, because America and Australia were basically colonized by the British. Maybe we should blame them!!!
But seriously, why on god’s earth would anyone need a semi automatic weapon ?
That is the question, isn’t it.
Very well said, you summoned what I’ve been thinking but cannot put into words as nicely as you’ve done it.
It sickens me when I hear people talking about the Second Amendment when is convenient to them.
I think right now we are all trying to find words. There are none. We are trying to hold back our emotional response so we can respond without anger and have a pragmatic discussion about why we need to regulate, it is nearly impossible. But if not now, when?
The hurt, sadness, frustration, and anger in me today has just been summed up beautifully by you. I stay away from politics on my blog, but even I had to post a short entry on this. Enough is enough. If I hear ‘Guns don’t kill people, people kill people’ one more time, I think I’ll scream. Why are we the only country that doesn’t get it? Yes, incidents will still happen with strict gun control–look at the Norway tragedy a couple years back– and yes, people can kill with other weapons, but overall these tragedies will be decreased, not to mention, it’s much easier to kill dozens of people with guns than knives, cars, etc. It’s only common sense.
The second part is to treat mental illness like any other medical ailment and vamp up our access to care and provide proper insurance coverage for it. Will we be able to stop all cases of senseless violence? Of course not. But to use that as an excuse for inaction is ridiculous.
I agree Carrie, we must treat mental illness. We must stop skating past the truth of the issues of mental health and illness as if we can hide them in the attic and they won’t be part of our lives. However, we also must stop saying ‘well this person was mentally ill so it doesn’t count, responsible mentally healthy persons would never do this horrific, horrendous thing.’
It simply isn’t true. Many of the worst killers in history were not mentally ill. They simply liked killing and despite our desire to make them mentally deficient, the truth is killers are not necessarily crazy as hell.
So beautifully said, Val.
I am so very very very angry, I can barely see straight.
And that’s part of it with gun owners. Because everybody has a breaking point. If you have a gun in your house, it’s too easy to use it.
Thanks Elyse, but you know I don’t think everyone has a break point that would cause them to take a life. Some people actually have a moral center that says life is of value, those people likely don’t believe is is necessary to own an arsenal.
That was a question I had to face, “could I take a life in defense of my own? Is another persons life of greater value than my own??”
The answer was always no.
You’re right. I would die first myself.
This is happening so frequently. What gets me is the reasoning is always mental illness. I’m not convinced this is always the case. We cannot keep justifying and excusing this kinds of crimes.
I agree, though certainly it takes a terrible mind to kill a child. Nonetheless I agree with you we must stop blaming mental illness on these terrible acts. By diverting attention from the real issue we continue to see 9,000+ violent gun deaths per year. This is by the way higher than any other nation, other than those at war.
You know Totsy, even as we blame it on mental illness, we don’t do anything about THAT either.
What a country we’ve become.
Sadly, I agree.
This is so true. We don’t address mental health, we don’t address any of the issues that lead to the problems.
Well said. I hope Congress is listening. I hope the NRA is taking heed, though chances are they’re already developing their strategy to combat any attempts to curtail gun rights because of this tragedy. Somehow they always hold the cards.
But frankly, no one seems to remember that when our founding fathers created the second amendment, they were living in a different time. Back then you really did need to own a gun to hunt for your own food (as far as I know, there were no supermarkets), and to protect yourself, as there were no police forces. There was no 9-1-1 to call for help. Back then you were pretty much on your own to fend for yourself, and the founding fathers could not foresee that it wouldn’t always stay that way. We no longer need the Second Amendment like we did then and it’s high time we stopped clinging to it as if any minute we’re going to reverse to those times! It’s just not going to happen!
That isn’t entirely true though Monica, back then there were cities and in those cities there were markets. Only those who lived in the country needed firearms, for protection and hunting. In fact, the government had to force gun purchase and maintenance on the populace, this is how different the nation is. They had to force it to maintain a ‘well armed militia’. Many who lived in cities did not own guns, many did not hunt.
Our history tells a very different story than the one the NRA would like us to believe.
Thanks for the explanation. I’m probably not the only one with misconceptions so I hope you’ll consider doing a background post on the early days of this amendment and expand on what you’re telling me. Thanks!
I think I will when I get home and close to all my research materials. Right now I am on holiday and away from my library. We are so misinformed and willing to believe what is put before us, this is part of what makes me so sad.
I don’t understand today’s mindset either. I can’t imagine what passes today under the banner of constitutional rights – would have been anything the founding fathers could have comprehended possible when you look at what the reality was then.
This is not the nation the envisioned. We are not the people they envisioned. If these flag wrapped, sheet wrapped illiterate fools ever read anything other than the simple words of the Second Amendment they might learn something.
Now is the time. I haven’t yet processed this all enough to be cogent, but I hate guns. Guns do NOT need to be a part of our society. I hate guns, Val. I hate guns.
I do as well my friend. I have tried hard to balance the Constitutional ‘Right’ maybe so I could keep my friends and family with my true belief we simply don’t achieve a civil society so long as we have weapons of such destructive potential in the hands of citizens.
I haven’t processed everything either, I just know I can’t seem to stop weeping. I can’t seem to stop seeing the horror in my heart or my minds eye. I can’t seem to stop feeling the bullets. I can’t seem to stop imagining it all from the heart and mind of innocence and my horror is multiplied.