It's So Easy—To Buy a Gun

Nineteen children have been murdered in Uvalde, Texas, and although it is horrific, it's not surprising. In Texas, it's easy to buy an assault gun—that’s only function is to kill—even if you are only 18. 

An 18-year-old cannot buy a beer, but a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot buy a cigarette, but a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot get a loan for a house without an older co-signer, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot rent a car, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot receive an unrestricted driver’s license, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot work at or go into a strip club, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

An 18-year-old cannot gamble at a casino or buy a lottery ticket, but to buy a gun is A-okay.

As a veteran and beer drinker, it is particularly galling that an 18-year-old can enlist in the army to go die for his/her country but cannot go buy a beer. Oh, and although they cannot get a drink to drown their sorrows, they can go and buy an AR-15 and blow away kids because the person is upset.

Adults in Texas don't want their children to read books about slavery or about homosexuals, but they have no problem with teenagers buying high-capacity magazines and unlimited quantities of ammunition. 

Face it, America is awash in guns. There are 120 guns for every 100 people. More than any other country. More guns just makes it easier to kill. You get mad, you just pull your gun and take care of it. In previous blogs, I've complained how this is the habit of our police. A civilian runs away from a traffic ticket, a cop is more likely to pull a gun than chase him. This is the way the public does it too. You are pissed at a neighbor so instead of giving him the finger, you get your gun.

Okay, this may not happen every time, but you know it does happen and you also know it happens a lot. That's why you read about a gun being drawn at a football game. A gun fight at a restaurant. A husband shoots his wife. It's easy because guns are easy to come by.

Beto O'Rourke confronted Texas governor Greg Abbott at a news conference and told him this was “on him.” Although you may not like his tactics, it was appropriate as the GOP will only offer thoughts and prayers in a hollow gesture of grief for the victims, but they refuse to do anything that might stop these events from happening again and again.

In fact, here in Texas they do the opposite. They make it easier. So, a child of 18 can buy as much ammo as he wants. Can buy as many assault rifles as he needs. Can buy multiple high capacity magazines and no one bats an eye. 

It's easy.

We won't see an end of these horrible events until we make it not so easy.

Ahhh, James Thurber

A while back, I told myself I wasn’t going to do any more sidesteps about mass shootings or police murdering civilians because I had done so many before. So I took some time off from those types of sidesteps. However, seeing those young, innocent faces of the victims in Uvalde brought too many tears to my eyes—and enraged me. Like so many other people, I keep thinking “when will this end?” But it won’t end. It won’t end because we have a political party (GOP) who get so much money and support from the NRA that they will never change laws that might end these horrible events, no matter how many innocent lives are lost. So, I can’t change that decrepit party, but I can at least make fun of them and write blogs to chastise them. I hope to get back to things like how men have different attitudes about farting than women, or how women are so much better a guilt trips than men, but who knows?

 

Deja Vu Boulder

Sadly, this blog has made a number of sidesteps related to gun violence. Many of them dealt with police shooting an unarmed man, but a few also were about mass shooting of civilians.  

 

One of those blogs discussed how the NRA was founded as a shooting organization, not one for the protection of the 2nd Amendment. Plus, that same blog noted how the 2nd Amendment isn't really about gun ownership, it's about slavery, or rather, arming militias so they can control slaves.

 

Just like everyone, when a mass shooting event occurs I’m outraged that it could even happen. Unfortunately, here in the U.S. it’s become just a way of life. You can’t say we’re used to it, but you can say it’s a regular occurrence, and we've been doing it for a long time. 

 

Of course, nothing will be done to stop this repeating occurrence. The GOP, yes, just that party, will not allow anything to change. It doesn’t matter that gun regulation is very popular with everybody, because they don’t want to offend their big donors they will slam the door on reform.

 

So instead of me ranting again about how we need to stop this madness, or tell about how in the past the NRA actually believed in gun regulations, or how in the early history of our country we did regulate them (turn your weapon in to the sheriff before entering our town, cowboy) I’ll just go the symbolic route.

 

Play this video of the lonely sound of the wind sweeping across the plains as you look at the following pictures and think about the lives of those who will no longer be with us.  (Click this link to play the sound effect in the background)

 

Boulder, Colorado

Atlanta, Georgia

Pittsburgh

El Paso

Roseburg, Oregon

Sutherland Springs, Texas

Las Vegas

Orlando

Aurora, Colorado

Newtown, Connecticut (Sandy Hook)

Columbine, Colorado