Fantasyland
On previous visits to Frontierland, I always steered my boys away from the Shootin’ Exposition. If you’ve never seen it, it’s an Old Western-style rifle shooting range along the main passage into Frontierland inside of Disneyland.
For fifty cents, you get about ten shots on a very authentic shot gun where you can aim the laser at targets such as a moving train, an old saloon, and tombstones.
On our most recent visit a few weeks ago, I thought, “Why not?” The boys were eager to do it since their Nerfs have been banned at home, and it seemed like a fun way to pass the time.
After a few rounds, I learned that gun #11 was a hot one. I hit almost every shot, and before long, I was pumping more quarters back into the machine, tilting my head to see down the scope, and feeling the simulated, Disney-esque kick of the rifle on my shoulder.
The boys and I were having fun comparing our shots and accuracy when a thought crept into my head: What if we took up marksmanship as a sport?
What if we—in efforts to allow ourselves a bit of responsible gun usage—bought rifles, found a range, and practiced shooting? These fleeting visions of bonding with my sons in an honest, controlled sport, seemed like a good idea. It felt wholesome, in fact, because that’s what Disney does—it indefinitely upholds a fantasy.
Eventually it was time to go home, and so faded the fantasy, and that idea I entertained while at the Shootin’ Exposition.
And now, weeks later, another mass shooting forever etched in the American stone, the very idea of taking up arms—even in the fantasy world of Disneyland—is sickening.
That we might, as a nation, choose our children’s safety and well-being by way of aggressively reforming gun control, has and will always be a fantasy as well.
The memories of the children who died in the Uvalde massacre will live on for mere moments before we are distracted by the next spectacle, or the next mass shooting. We are so desensitized by mass shootings that we can only shake our heads and move on.
When so-called leaders of this country receive millions of dollars in campaign funding from the National Rifle Association, how does the average human person—let alone a CHILD GOING TO SCHOOL—stand a chance at survival?
Unfortunately, the fantasyland we live in is the one created by politicians, who believe the most precious version of life is a zygote, and the inanimate object most worthy of protection is a firearm.
As long as these so-called leaders and their supporters’ money are in power—and they are most certainly in power—our children don’t stand a chance.
The most we can do is actively reject the power of the firearm by demanding love and protection for our children in all the places they inhabit.
Have we ever thought about—oh, I don’t know—a Constitutional Amendment that protects our most important citizens; the children of this blessed nation? It is a living document, right? Or have the bought-and-paid-for politicians killed that, too?
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Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash
