Never Again: Is this the tipping point?
For years we have been watching the news from here in Australia... sitting here in utter astonishment at ANOTHER school massacre. This time something is different. This time it feels like something might ACTUALLY change.
I converted to steemit a few months ago, and since then I don't spend much time on other social media. The last few days I keep coming back to my facebook feed though. I'm in awe. I am watching videos as I cook dinner, or wait for a bus, and I am silently cheering with all my heart. Video after video, I'm cheering for the "kids" who are actually taking a stand.
Like many people, my initial reaction to the latest shooting, was painfully indifferent. The cycle of emotions that follows these events has worn thin long ago. I think the general attitude is that if the USA won't change anything after Sandy Hook - how will they ever change anything?
It didn't take long to realise there was something different this time
The usual 'script' has been altered. The kids are talking - and the world is listening. They aren't emerging from this trembling and shaking and asking for help... they are standing strong and demanding change.
I'm obviously not an American, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who will happily tell me I have no right to an opinion. We've all heard the arguments go round in circles before, and I don't really care whether I am entitled to an opinion or not. These 'kids' are putting us 'adults' to shame. They are showing us how it should be done, and how it will be done, and I am with them all the way!
I'm not usually one to take sides. In fact even now, I'm not really taking a 'side'. I understand that people feel they have a right to carry guns. What amazes me, is that ANY changes to gun laws get shot down (I'm not even sorry for that pun). But seriously... how can people actually manage to do NOTHING every time?
It's hard to convey the disbelief that we feel watching from afar. It's a little bit like watching a friend go back to a bad relationship. You know it's a bad relationship, but your friend doesn't want to know.
What happens when the kids grow up?
There is a generation of children who have grown up seeing mass shootings on the news as 'normal'. Not just in the USA. These shootings, even though they are frequent, make international headlines regularly. The children are growing up and starting to question things. They are making their own sense of the world... and they aren't having a bar of the excuses.
"We've had enough of thoughts and prayers...To every lawmaker out there: No longer can you take money from the NRA. No longer can you fly under the radar doing whatever it is that you want to do ... We are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action." -Delaney Tarr, Parkland school shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
"After first graders were gunned down at Sandy Hook, what did you do? Not a damn thing. After 49 people, including my two brothers, were murdered at Pulse, what did you do? Not a damn thing. You plugged your ears and turned your eyes and hoped that we would stop talking. Now we're here again. 17 people are dead. 14 of them are children. And what did you do yesterday when given the chance to do something about it? Not a damn thing." - Brandon Wolf, Pulse nightclub shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
What about now?
What will the USA do this time? 'Not a damn thing?' - or #neveragain?
I'm asking as a friend. I'm asking because I care about you and your children. You should be proud of your children America, and I hope you listen to them and protect them.
Much Love,
your friends in Australia.
(Who are cheering loudly for your kids from the other side of the world.)
I am not from the USA either, but had a conversation about the subject with an American friend some years ago. That friend said, removing the guns is the wrong way to go. If we do that then only the bad guys have guns and we are sitting ducks. The solution should be found in arming teachers so they could protect the students.
I was more than a little surprised to hear Trump suggest the same thing. I do value my friend's braincells more than Trump's. So weird.
I cheer for the kids too, I hope they will not stop before anything changes. Stop going to classes. If it costs you a semester or year, so be it. Otherwise it could easily cost you your life. Go Kids of the USA!!
Some schools have found a great solution that doesn't involve arming the teachers. Basically it's a device that quickly and effectively barricades the classroom door when tripped. Most shooters don't have a lot of time, and are looking for a fight, so effective barricading actually works really well. It's not perfect, but it's better than a gun fight.
Thanks for your comment @ijmmai - I'd support my kids if they wanted to protest that's for sure!
Being an Aussie in the US, I am all about this issue.
When I first got here, I thought the situation was easily fixed... copy Australia's lead; buyback all automatic, semi-automatic and appropriate attachments, then after the amnesty period is over, raid anyone suspected of having these weapons and fine the crap out of them.
Now that I'm here and have spoken to a lot of people about it... it's way more complex. People love their guns in the US, and they're honestly scared for their lives to have them taken away. So they pay the NRA to lobby against anyone who opposes guns. The NRA has so much money, they really have enough to effectively remove anyone in the political landscape who opposes them.
So, you have this situation where people legitimately feel that if their own form of defense is removed, they and their family are dead. Chicago has lead the way in these sort of bans, but the police don't have enough funding to really properly enforce it.
It seems so easy for us because we come from a much safer place, and our services are properly funded. The US honestly needs massive tax reform before anything can really be done... and their political system just doesn't work.
It is terrifying to see all the 'No guns past this point' on all private buildings... you just know there are guns in the carpark. People are nuts.
Hi @auusieninja, thanks for your insight.
I suspected the argument was complex, and that their must be a reason the NRA has so much power. But it just seems CRAZY that they won't even make tiny changes!
It's the level of fear ( of gun law changes) that seems completely irrational.
Oh totally... it's like the oppose everything just for the sake of opposing... and the level of money they can throw around is astonishing. I'm sure they can't even believe the things they get away with. The problem is that passionate minority groups are just so much more successful at lobbying than the general public.
Do you think anything will be different this time?
I am not sure why guns are the issue.
America has had the same laws since conception. That is why we so strongly hold this right. So what has changed? People.
Just the growth in population increases chances of gun misuse. It increases the odds of people with ill intent, it makes law enforcement a bigger challenge, the number of people in need of mental health care increases.
Not sure who was quoted recently but I believe it was Billy Graham, regarding taking God out of our schools....
We have taken God and community and family out of our lives. Torn the family to pieces. Adults of all ages, teens and children have all become so self-centered and selfish that rejection, disappointment, criticism, or strife are unacceptable. When one can justify the death of others for his own self satisfaction taking guns away won't stop this. Some additional stop gap measures are required. Pretty sure the founders didn't intend for us to have the type of weapons available today! They had no clue how powerful weapons would become.
And as for arming people in the school? The majority of those who commit these acts are suicidal anyway. Would guns really make a difference?
I guess I kind of lean towards people as the root cause. Controlling guns is an unfortunate result of the crisis.
In the most recent case where law enforcement didn't even use the information they had on the killer.....what gun control law would resolve this?
Thanks so much for your comment @nananini. I totally understand what your saying, and I think there is WAY more to this issue than just gun control. I don't think gun control alone can 'solve' this.
Guns aren't ingrained in our culture here, so I don't pretend to understand all the issues. My main point though is that I'm baffled that SMALL changes to gun conrol (eg stopping a kid like this shooter buying a powerful gun) seem to get blocked.
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They got exactly what they wanted:
a gun free zone, where only the cops had guns - And People DIED!
Another Aussie here :)
I must admit I don't watch the news so I can only assume that something has happened again! My question is though... what is happening to kids of today, anywhere? While kids have access to guns in the US so if they're feeling under pressure, this is an option for them... but we have teenage suicide on the rise... What's so wrong with our children that they're looking to lash out, hurt people or take their own lives. While suicide has always occurred it wasn't often you heard about it but it seems like it is happening all the time now a days.
What's making these kids so unhappy that they feel this is the answer?