It’s time to face up to the death and violence being done by guns in the United States. No more thoughts and prayers. It’s time for some action, at long last.
THREE WORDS: I am mad.
I am mad. This country allows ordinary citizens, along with the mentally ill, gun nuts, certified haters, wild-eyed racists, and anybody with cash, to buy a weapon developed for one purpose: To kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.
I am mad. My ire is aimed at public officials who push the 2nd Amendment past its original intent – “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Guns should be regulated; loopholes in the law need to be permanently sealed.
I am mad. The United States has more mass shootings than any country in the world not at war. With a month to go in the year 2023, there have been more than 400 mass shootings from “sea to shining sea”.
I am mad. The National Rifle Association (of which I was once a devoted member and a gun safety instructor, focusing on gun safety education of kids) pushes millions of dollars into the grubby hands of bobble-headed elected politicians to protect the well-oiled and monied-up gun manufacturing industry. Those public servants do not give two hoots in hell about those who find themselves on the bad end of a mindless machine that, if certain models are configured to automatic fire, could throw out 600 rounds a minute.
I am mad. According to the National Firearms Act, any fully automatic weapon made before 1986 is available to purchase by U.S. citizens.
I am mad. The pulpit-pounding and pabulum-spewing state and government officials offering up “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting instead of joining hands with families of victims and saying “Never again!” and meaning it, are in short supply. They are putting misguided priorities by lobbyists’ money thrown at campaigns ahead of the lives of human beings.
I am mad. There are people reading this who are stewing and muttering and calling me a mindless, liberal, mutant voice in the wilderness that simply does not understand the “need” for Americans to own guns. I am a gun owner; I have two pistols, two rifles and a shotgun. And I know how to use them and keep one handy (but inaccessible to grandkids and visitors) for protection of my home and family.
I am mad. The total number of school shootings in the U.S. in a three-year period (2010 to 2012) was 41; as of mid-November 2023, there had been 77 school shooting, 50 on K-12 schools and 27 on college campuses. Our children and grandchildren practice – PRACTICE! – “active shooter” drills just like senior citizens practiced atom bomb drills 70 years ago. Only difference is, no atom bomb ever was ever dropped, and school shootings occur at an average of seven times a month.
I am mad. No place is exempt from gun violence; churches, mosques, synagogues are not safe havens. Some countries take notice: Several years ago, two self-proclaimed “gun nuts” killed 51 people in separate mosque shootings in New Zealand using assault-style weapons. Nine days later – NINE DAYS! – the government in that nation banned assault-style weapons.
I am mad. Here at home, our leaders do nothing. Wait! Not so. U.S. leaders say with regularity and in rote after mass shooting after mass shooting, “Now is not the time to discuss changes in gun laws.”
I am mad. Do you remember when the U.S. had a weapons ban on military-style automatic weapons? It was under Republican President Ronald Reagan. Go back and research how Republicans, bought and paid for by gun lobbyists, allowed the ban to expire. Almost to a person, Republican politicians, along with a few lily-livered Democrats more worried about getting re-elected than about their constituents being slaughtered, see absolutely nothing wrong with taking money from the NRA and gun manufacturers and allowing the general public to buy “pure-dee” killing machines. These politicians are not concerned about the loss of human life, despite their protestations and fakey-fake, do-nothing tsk-tsking, and offering “sympathy” for the victims.
I am mad. We can stop the insanity and stop the mealy-mouthed slogans – “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Until action is taken on behalf of common-sense restrictions to guns designed to kill a bunch of people at one time, syrupy words are meadow muffins topped with a heaping helping of goat pellets. Stop talking and thinking and praying. Stop the slaughter. Take action to reduce the chance of mass executions in our schools, churches, businesses and streets.
I am mad. How mad? Mad enough that I want the mutilated bodies of adults and children alike to be shown on national television and in full-color photos in publications so the reality of what these war-weapons can actually do to a human body is stuck in the national consciousness.
I am mad. You should be mad, too. And you should start working to stop the insanity by simply voting…voting to oust those elected officials who defend the manufacture, sale and use of military-style weapons to the general public.
Any other excuses to own these weapons – to kill feral hogs, or — God help the stupid folks spouting this nonsense! – prairie dogs, are just showing abject ignorance while human beings are being slaughtered.
Now, now is time for you and you and you to get mad.
George Smith views the world from the back porch Bedspring Ridge, a dogtrot house he built in Sutton, Arkansas on old family land on a spot where his great-grandfather’s house once stood. There he lives and opines with his wife BobbieJean and a rescue dog, “Li’l Dawg.” A former newspaper reporter, editor and publisher, he has a master’s degree in business, is a retired director for a global technology company, has been a business owner, student of government and the behavior of politicians. He has been a college instructor, national motivational speaker, community development and festival development consultant and is a published author.