F#@% Thoughts and Prayers
Hey, GOP congresspeople, Fuck your thoughts and prayers.
They are meaningless and most likely, not even heartfelt. Every time there is
another mass shooting, that is the only thing presented by these folks (I wanted to use a harsher word) for those effected by the shooting.
On many occasions, I’ve blogged about mass shootings and gun
violence. I’ve even pointed out that the 2nd Amendment was not
designed to help gun ownership, but to help arm militias/slave patrols.
In fact, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the idea that the 2nd was
all about gun ownership took shape.
Before that time, the NRA was mainly a sporting organization
(not a gun lobby) and supported gun control and the courts largely believed that guns could be highly regulated.
Who can forget how quickly politicians enacted regulations
when one of the scariest events (to white people) in US history happened: The Black Panthers marched around a city with guns!
Yeah, didn’t take long to take those guns away. But that was
in the 60s. It began to change in the 70s when the NRA realized they could make
big bucks by lobbying for gun manufacturers. Sharing that loot with politicians
quickly followed and of course, legislation to control weapons became
impossible. Even if the majority of Americans supported regulation.
In the past, I’ve suggested some simple things to start
curbing possible mass shootings.
• Universal background checks. This should cover every
single gun purchase.
• Liability insurance for gun owners. Just imagine how much
influence the insurance industry would exert for gun control after they began
to pay out huge insurance claims after a shooting.
These are simple examples, but there are more that could
happen. Other countries require mandatory training. Some include license requirements
for every gun. Japan has an extensive psychiatric interview for prospective
buyers.
None of these will happen though because the GOP is so
completely owned by the gun lobby.
So, I’ve included numerous memes that you can share if you
decide to encounter said politicians or even your gun nut Uncle Joe when he
visits you during the holidays.
I wish the best to the people of Nashville who have had to
experience our latest mass shooting and I’m sorry that we as a nation cannot
get a small contingent of right-wing politicians to do what is needed.
The Thurber Brigade apologizes for yet another sidestep about a mass shooting. We seem to do this quite often, and it's because mass shootings happen so often. There have been over 100 this year already and we're only three months into the year. The Brigade can't enact legislation, congress-folk don't listen to us or anybody (but the gun lobbies), so we're left with writing about it and hope that said politicians will begin to feel the disdain we all hold for them on this and maybe, maybe they'll do something for once.
I've been thinking I like the idea of a license for purchases. The idea that gun sellers should have to do background checks seems alien. Instead, the government should do the background checks and also require education into gun safety, gun laws, and how to use and maintain guns. Then they just show the license to whoever they're buying from.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie. Thanks for commenting. Yeah, I like the license idea too, but it might be hard to get that approved with the current state of the GOP. Background checks are done by the government, the seller has to contact them to do it, which to me seems simple, but for some reason, at gun shows they get away w/o doing that. I still think the insurance idea might be best, largely because it might be easier to get it approved.
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