Dying is NOT supposed to be a childhood experience. So, in addition to active-shooter drills, Texas has a bill to offer “battlefield trauma care course” to CHILDREN as young as 8 yo, if their parents approve. Why? Gun control is out of the question. Guns are more important than live children. And to get live children, women are forced to carry a zygote from conception to birth, even if it means women die.
Are you angry no value is placed on human life? Silence changes nothing.
Am I being sarcastic? I don’t mean to be. It’s just hard to follow the logic. Or maybe after watching hundreds of thousands of people die from Covid, what’s a few more? CHILDREN, adults, LBGTQ+. All so anyone can buy a gun off the street, with no training or registration, and feel justified in their anger and/or empowerment, fed by their white supremacist mindset, to kill.
Back to my larger point. Mass shootings infringe on people’s right to live in a safe environment. I don’t know about you, but my choice is NOT to be a target for some unhappy soul who feels compelled to kill as many people as they can to… to what? To prove they existed?
While the shooter’s name will be omitted in history, they leave behind statics: destroyed families, bankrupt merchants, closed or limited live entertainment, homelessness, and a reduced tax base which reduces services and opportunities. Worse, the GOP-controlled state and federal legislators by their inaction, silence, and acceptance of the National Rifle Association’s blood money, legitimizes the carnage by their inaction.
Are you angry you’re life is in peril? Silence changes nothing.
Do you, like me, choose not spend time in churches, banks, post offices, parades, media offices, concerts, theaters, entertainment venues, bars, birthday parties, and, schools? I am a grown-up adult, and I don’t want to go inside a school. A SCHOOL! Where a CHILD, trained with active shooter protocol and battlefield trauma care, can hustle me to safety. WHAT?
Are you angry you and yours are imprisoned? Silence changes nothing.
There is a huge human and financial loss directly connected to mass killings in public and commercial spaces. The families of the dead are irreparably traumatized, damaged, and forever changed. This is also true for the community’s economy. Brick-and-mortar business sales rely on human traffic. No people, no sales. No sales, no salespeople. No salespeople, no money. No money, no rent. No rent, empty store. Empty stores, no jobs. No jobs. dead town. And it’s happening predominately in red states as reported in the New York Times Understanding the red state death trip.
Are you afraid for your community? Silence changes nothing.
Know what happens when children are not in school? State and federal aid decrease as their subsidies depend on little butts sitting on little-school chairs. No child, no money. Yes, that’s why “taking attendance” is so important. No money means a decrease in programs. A decrease in programs means a decrease in staff/teachers. All decreases affect the quality of education. And, since the children being educated will be the legislators that determine programs for their aging parents, a poorly educated generation does not bode well for the community, state, or federal government.
Are you afraid of the dumbing-down of education?
What’s a parent, a teacher, or a student to do? If they can, they leave. No shopping. No education. No reason to stay unless they can’t afford to go. It’s called brain drain and depopulation. It devastates everything that’s left and discourages any investment in the area. In light of this, why isn’t every Chamber of Commerce, everywhere supporting every gun control bill?
Every legislator, at every level of government, who does not support gun control, from banning assault weapons of war to gun registration, as in car registration, expects every witness to a tragedy to go home, relax, suck it up, and be in school or work when it reopens. Really? Really? Well, all I can say is that overcoming trauma doesn’t work that way.
Are you now angry enough to be moved to action?
Only your voice and vote create change.
Things you can do right now to Stop Gun Violence.
- Speak out at local meetings and write/email/text state and federal elected officials.
- Some of the organizations sponsoring events in May and June. Please check your local listings.
- May 13, 2023 – Students Demand Action – click to find an action near you.
- May 13, 2023 – EveryTown For Gun Safety: Moms Demand Action: NY-Hudson Valley Mothers Day of Action Sign Waving, Staples Parking Lot, 1399 Ulster Ave, Kingston, NY, @ 11:00 am/
- May-June 2023 – Brady United Events – click to find an action near you.
- June 2-4, 2023 – Moms Demand Action Wear Orange Events –click to find an action near you.
- June 5, 2023 – Here 4 the Kids and over 25,000 white women will converge on the lawn at the capitol in Denver to demand that Governor Jared Polis sign an Executive Order to ban guns and buy them back. And they will stay as long as it takes to cause change.
- June 6, 2023 – DC Capitol Sit-In for federal assault weapons ban, organized by Samuel Schwartz(twitter: @samschwartz03) (on behalf of the New Town Action Alliance (SandyHook) (https://www.facebook.com/NewtownActionAlliance/) Either go and/or contribute to their Gofundme campaign. This money will strictly be used for food, water, and other essential items for those sitting with us.
The truth is that the next shooting, and there will be a next mass shooting, may directly affect you.
Take action NOW.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Unsplash
