“If you are watching this at home, and you are a Republican member of Congress, consider the fact that when the sun sets on your career and they are writing your story of all the good and bad things you did in your life, the thing you will be remembered for is whether in this moment with this president you found the courage to stand up to him, or continued to put party over country.”
—Pete Buttigieg
Several days before the massacres in Ohio and Texas I coincidentally started writing a blog referencing gun control. The number of guns that flood our streets is a disgrace, and the politicians and organizations that try to tell us that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” need to work on their moral code. Yep, guns don’t shoot themselves, but alternately, people can’t send bullets out of their fingers. They work in tandem, and we must work together to take guns out of the hands of those who abuse them.
My blog began veering off though, and I spoke of bullying and mental illness as contributing factors to the dangers we are now facing in our malls, festivals, concerts and Walmarts. I am well aware of the dangers that bullying foists on society, and the lack of attention paid to mental illness is frightening, but after this past weekend I think I will leave those issues for another blog. Today my mind can think of nothing but guns and bigotry.
I don’t believe that this administration caused more people to hate, but I do believe that this administration along with politicians who are protecting their jobs rather than their constituents have made hate more acceptable. Those who fear or hate others because of their differences have always been around, but they have been kept at abeyance by those in power who tried to protect the freedom and rights of all people. Recently it has become fashionable to wave that hatred around, sometimes in the form of a gun.
When that gun is an automatic or semi-automatic weapon that spews dozens of bullets in the blink of an eye, that hatred can quickly turn into unfathomable tragedy. Allowing those types of weapons to be sold on an open market seems so counterintuitive that I am wondering how anyone decided not to continue banning them. I am not naive, and I realize that the NRA has the money to buy votes, but this is just astounding.
Banning these guns will come no where near solving our problems, but it is a darn good start. Unfortunately, the reality is, if people can’t purchase these guns then gun manufacturers will lose a fortune. No business person wants to see his/her profits slashed, so they will do what it takes, spend what they must and say just about anything to keep their production numbers high.
We have always turned to our leaders to protect us from those who would do us harm, but that doesn’t seem to be working for us these days. Maybe we need to take matters into our own hands. How about if those people with automatic and semi-automatic weapons walk those weapons into the nearest police station and exchange them for a tee-shirt that says...SAVING AMERICA...ONE HERO AT A TIME.
Then we need to get a list of every politician who voted against banning these weapons. One of those classic movie lines from years ago seems appropriate right about now. In 1976, Peter Finch played Howard Beale in "Network,” and at one point in the movie he opened his window and yelled, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” I think it is a great time for everyone to join me in opening our figurative windows at our voting centers and yelling that we are just that mad as hell, and we aren’t going to take it anymore.
I reviewed a Jade Harrington book several weeks ago, and decided to read/review the next in the series this week. The Divide (A Jade Harrington Novel) by J.L. Brown was as good as Book 2, and I recommend it if you are a fan of FBI thrillers.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
—Pete Buttigieg
Several days before the massacres in Ohio and Texas I coincidentally started writing a blog referencing gun control. The number of guns that flood our streets is a disgrace, and the politicians and organizations that try to tell us that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” need to work on their moral code. Yep, guns don’t shoot themselves, but alternately, people can’t send bullets out of their fingers. They work in tandem, and we must work together to take guns out of the hands of those who abuse them.
My blog began veering off though, and I spoke of bullying and mental illness as contributing factors to the dangers we are now facing in our malls, festivals, concerts and Walmarts. I am well aware of the dangers that bullying foists on society, and the lack of attention paid to mental illness is frightening, but after this past weekend I think I will leave those issues for another blog. Today my mind can think of nothing but guns and bigotry.
I don’t believe that this administration caused more people to hate, but I do believe that this administration along with politicians who are protecting their jobs rather than their constituents have made hate more acceptable. Those who fear or hate others because of their differences have always been around, but they have been kept at abeyance by those in power who tried to protect the freedom and rights of all people. Recently it has become fashionable to wave that hatred around, sometimes in the form of a gun.
When that gun is an automatic or semi-automatic weapon that spews dozens of bullets in the blink of an eye, that hatred can quickly turn into unfathomable tragedy. Allowing those types of weapons to be sold on an open market seems so counterintuitive that I am wondering how anyone decided not to continue banning them. I am not naive, and I realize that the NRA has the money to buy votes, but this is just astounding.
Banning these guns will come no where near solving our problems, but it is a darn good start. Unfortunately, the reality is, if people can’t purchase these guns then gun manufacturers will lose a fortune. No business person wants to see his/her profits slashed, so they will do what it takes, spend what they must and say just about anything to keep their production numbers high.
We have always turned to our leaders to protect us from those who would do us harm, but that doesn’t seem to be working for us these days. Maybe we need to take matters into our own hands. How about if those people with automatic and semi-automatic weapons walk those weapons into the nearest police station and exchange them for a tee-shirt that says...SAVING AMERICA...ONE HERO AT A TIME.
Then we need to get a list of every politician who voted against banning these weapons. One of those classic movie lines from years ago seems appropriate right about now. In 1976, Peter Finch played Howard Beale in "Network,” and at one point in the movie he opened his window and yelled, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” I think it is a great time for everyone to join me in opening our figurative windows at our voting centers and yelling that we are just that mad as hell, and we aren’t going to take it anymore.
I reviewed a Jade Harrington book several weeks ago, and decided to read/review the next in the series this week. The Divide (A Jade Harrington Novel) by J.L. Brown was as good as Book 2, and I recommend it if you are a fan of FBI thrillers.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog
