Treyvon Martin wasn't even carrying a gun and he got shot, then Fox/the right blamed him for getting shot. "He was a thug".
Anybody who doesn't think this open carry stuff with white people carrying assault rifles into stores and farmers markets isn't tied intimately to race and privilege is mistaken... And probably not a minority.
If it was black people, brown people, Muslims carrying assault rifles it'd be a different story.... And that's what makes me so mad.
Also, the rate of school shootings have gone from 4 per year max during the entire history of this country to over 40 per year. You wanna tell me that's not about something related to Fox/the right beating the drums of "the black guy is gonna take your guns" and the reaction that illicits? Sales of guns and ammo have been through the roof. An exponential increase that directly mirrors the increase in school shootings...
I'm saying that AND I'M PRO GUN RIGHTS.
That's right.
A pro gun rights leftist.
Thing is, it doesn't take a genius to see something is wrong.
It's not a black and white issue (no pun intended).
It's not guns or no guns.
It's sanity and common sense regulation versus hysteria.
Hysteria on both sides too.
There's a way to go back to how it has been for most if the history of the US and it's not by carrying assault rifles into playgrounds OR banning all guns.
It's about not letting hysteria control the discussion.
It's about recognizing the role race and privilege plays.
It's about having a RATIONAL discussion that balances rights and responsibilities.
That's a discussion Fox news and the right wing teabagger echo chamber doesn't want us to have because they WANT hysteria so that they can seize the reins.
They want pro gun rights folks to think people are coming for their guns.
They want left leaning folks to freak out and call for all out gun bans.
They thrive on hysteria because it's the only thing that can distract us from the fact that they're fleecing every single one of us and gutting every other right we have. They're carving up our democracy and selling it to the highest bidder. They're making sure that only the super rich have a say and they love it when we squabble.
If hundreds of school children die it's fine by them.
If YOUR children die it's fine by them.
Why? Because they don't care about you.
You want a solution?
Don't go to polar opposites.
Don't buy into the Fox extremism game.
Have a rational discussion about what's going on and how to fix it.
There's a middle path and it's one we've been on for most of US history. Stop buying into the bs.
It's not a matter of guns or no guns. It's a matter of how do we do this safely.
How do we respect free speech and make it clear that you can't yell fire in a crowded theater?
How do we let people have the right to bear arms and not have kids going into schools and shooting up the classroom?
I've got a hint about that last one and it involves common sense regulation and not slashing the budget of our public schools.
Who's gonna talk to these kids if there's one counselor to every thousand kids? Who's gonna connect with them if the teacher is underpaid and the class size is huge? If the community is flooded with guns because people are scared they're gonna be taken away? If the knee jerk reaction to the imagined threat of guns being taken away leads parents to put a rifle in the hands of a 5 year old? If kids grow up seeing people toting guns in department stores?
IF FEAR RULES THE DAY??
There's a solution here and it requires a rational mind. That's not too much to ask.
I'm a fan of the bill of rights. It gets waived around while it's being torn to shreds.
All of the amendments are important. (especially the 1st and 4th but that's another matter) There's a tendency to bang on the 2nd amendment while burning all the other ones. That's an intentional tactic. Don't be fooled.
"No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices."
"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men"
- Edward R. Murrow -
"This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it."
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
- Elmer Davis -
The responsibility is on us, not politicians.
Fear mongers only have power if somebody's listening.
Stop listening.