Guns

I'm guessing most, if not all, of us have seen or heard the sentiment, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

True enough. We've been killing each other without guns since humans first graced this planet with our presence. People do kill without guns and we do so quite effectively. But, guns help people kill people. A lot of people. A lot of innocent, good people. Including twelve in Aurora, Colorado. 

In less than forty-eight hours after the ambush, I've seen several editorials on both sides of the gun control debate. I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu. Some well-armed gunman enters a crowded, public place and opens fire for no apparent reason. People die. More are wounded. Members of the media swarm in like locusts. Social networking kicks into overdrive. Guns are the problem. No, they're not, we're the problem. If everyone had a gun, like in other countries, he would've been killed in nothing flat. Americans worship violence, what do you expect? Blah, blah, blah.  

Same old. Same old. 

Apparently, gunmen like the coward (who I won't name) in Colorado, feel the need to impress upon the rest of us living folk how bullied, harassed, oppressed, frustrated, smart, lethal, and cowardly they are. I, personally, am quite impressed. Is that enough? I'm truly impressed with the intelligence and, uh, bravery it took to plan and implement this attack on a movie theatre and booby-trap your apartment. Well done. Mission accomplished. Will this stupid bullshit stop now?

I'm sure in the heads of gunmen like the Colorado coward, it makes sense to arm themselves to the teeth, wear enough armor to last through a showing of Eat Pray Love in Afghanistan, find a public place with hundreds of unarmed people, and open fire. Apparently, these victims harmed this man in some awful way that demanded their death while watching a Batman movie. I'm sure the teenagers were especially mean. They can be so cruel, after all. Especially against a medical student. 

He must have also thought these people were all armed, as well. I know this because in addition to the protection he wore, he brought tear gas (or something similar), a gas mask, multiple guns, and hundreds of rounds of ammo. Yes, this is truly a brave man to attack these seemingly harmless people. It's a good thing he could legally get his hands on those weapons and ammunition.

Obviously, this man is disturbed. He might have flipped like this anyway, whether he had a machine gun, shot gun, and two handguns, or no guns at all. It's entirely possible he would've killed these same twelve people and wounded the same fifty-eight others by using a blow-dart gun and bow and arrows while wearing jeans and a hoodie. He could have booby-trapped his apartment Rambo-style with sharpened sticks and logs dropped from above. Surely, it would've been as dangerous and deadly as the IEDs and God knows what else he used instead. But, somehow I doubt it.

I'm quite sure the NRA will come forth with the same, tired exclamations of how tragic and senseless this episode is; they pray for the victims' families, and continue to herald the responsible, constitutional right to bear arms. Been there. Heard that.  

It doesn't matter what the NRA says or what everyone else says. Nothing is going to change. This awful, stomach clenching tragedy will eventually pass. After a few months, or years, if we're lucky, another similar tragedy will occur somewhere else. Others will die. Others will be wounded. More outrage. Cue tape.

Unless we actually starting doing something different, nothing different will happen. 

Posting our proclamations to pray for those families and friends of the victims on Facebook, along with our questions of why and how such a thing could happen, and our rantings for/against gun control and violence won't change a damn thing. I know. I posted similar thoughts myself. It feels right to do those things, and maybe it is. But, it also doesn't feel like enough.

Nothing will change. Unless we actually do something with our fear and weariness of the same old problems. 

It's happened before, and rather recently. Close to four years ago actually. You think a black man named Barack gets elected over a war hero any other way? He made so much money during his election against Hillary Clinton and John McCain he broke every national record in regards to campaign donations and spending. (Ironically, a man named Mitt is breaking those records. But, that's another topic for another day.) According to the Washington Post, Obama raised over half a billion dollars online alone, with the average donation being eighty dollars. 

How did that happen? Simple. People finally reached the boiling point. Enough was enough. Most people didn't care what color he was, or what his name was, or where he was born. The size of our problems finally outweighed the normal political propaganda bullshit. People knew eighty bucks wasn't much, but hey, it's what they could give. Good luck to you. Guess what happens when millions upon millions of Americans have that same attitude and take that same step? Things change.

I realize people are upset with Obama and want him out. Some people think he hasn't done enough, or they disagree with what he's done. Of course, many people have the exact opposite point of view. The point is, the man doesn't get elected if we, as a country, don't decide to try something different. Remember, whether you agree with the man's health care changes or not, the Supreme Court upheld it. Our national health care system is changing. No other president has ever done that. 

The NRA has more money and power than its opponents. The gun companies have more money and power than their opponents. The politicians supporting both have more money and power then those running against them. Therefore, nothing changes. 

What if all the people who posted on Facebook and Twitter their support and outrage and prayers for the victims and their families in Aurora actually decided to do something more?  What if Americans gave the same amount of money and attention to this situation as we did for the tsunami victims in Japan and the earthquake victims in Haiti? What would happen? What would change?

Interesting questions, I think. Maybe things would stay the same and in six months some other gun toting prick would do the same thing, and we'd be running up the same hamster wheel. But, what if something else happened? Something that changes lives and maybe even saves a few. 

What if wasn't legal to buy an "AK type" automatic weapon? What if it wasn't legal to buy a drum clip with a hundred rounds inside it? Would that pathetic coward have still found a way to purchase those weapons? Or the next loser with the same idea? Would they have been caught if they did try? I don't know. 

Seems like the chances are fifty-fifty. I'd take those odds. We pay millions every month for a pipe dream called the lottery with far worse odds of winning. Probably about the same odds as getting shot in a movie theatre. Or at a high school. Or a middle school. Or an insurance office. Or a factory. Or an army base. Or at a university. Seems like those odds are climbing. 

What are we going to do about it?