ENOUGH!!!

The past two weeks have brought me to my knees – first the shooting in Buffalo, and then the massacre of children in Uvalde. I am overcome with grief and anger at the senseless murder of innocents, AGAIN!  I don’t know what to do with the incredibly deep sadness that I feel. And I daresay that those of you who follow this blog are feeling very much the same emotions.

How do we as a country justify the 214 mass shootings, 77 of them on school campuses, in 2022? We are not even halfway through the year, and over 17,000 people have already died by gun violence, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Why are we not rising and demanding action by our elected officials? How can we casually accept these shootings as normal and just move on to the next news cycle? I am not usually political in this blog, but I am sick to death of this cycle of gun death. Today, my spirituality demands that I become vocal about the political.

I am so tired of the platitudes: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” “It is a mental health issue.” “A good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun.” “Arm teachers; lock all the doors; blah, blah, blah!” That to me is a load of c..p!

The more guns that are out there, the easier it is for someone to be shot. If a gun is available in a heated argument, it is easy to use a gun. Yes, people kill people, because they have easy access to guns. Yes, it can be a mental health issue, but we haven’t enacted laws that keep mentally ill people from owning guns, nor have we allocated funds to help people, especially young people, to get the help they need. Sometimes the good guys stop the bad guys, but sometimes the good guys get killed. Ditto for arming teachers. And yes, in Uvalde, the door was locked with the killer inside (according to the articles available at this writing).

This country has made gods of guns. The ability to own a gun, with no restrictions whatsoever, has taken precedence over the lives of children. The ability to have an assault rifle to play with is more important than keeping children safe.

The current Republican party in Texas has been bought and sold by gun lobbyists. Senator Cruz has received over $440,000 and Senator Cornyn, $340,000, making them the top one and three recipients, respectively. That is in addition to political ads purchased on their behalf. Our Texas governor and senator see no irony or problem with speaking to the NRA Convention on May 27, in spite of what happened in Uvalde.

The party in power in this state spends most of its time throwing out red herrings instead of tackling real problems. They have gutted common sense gun laws so that anyone can openly carry a gun, whether or not they have been trained. They have enacted a draconian abortion law which takes away a woman’s bodily autonomy, but they refuse to have common sense gun laws that might save children’s lives. They haven’t fixed the power grid, but they have banned books, written bathroom laws, and threatened to prosecute the parents of transgender children for providing their own children medical care. While they send useless thoughts and prayers, children die every day from gun violence while they refuse to do anything about it.

Enough is enough! It is time for us to stand up and demand common sense gun laws – background checks, red flag laws, waiting periods, age restrictions, and banning assault weapons and high-powered bullets. I grew up with guns. My father and my brother were hunters. I have family members who are trained and responsible gun-owners. Most of these laws won’t change anything for these law-abiding citizens. But those laws just might keep an assault weapon out of the hands of someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill children.

My youngest grandchild is about the same age as the children who were killed. I can’t imagine the anguish of their loved ones and what they are going through. I keep hearing the words, “Grannies for Justice.” It is time for all grandparents, parents, and anyone who has loved ones to demand justice for their children and grandchildren and all the other folks who have been victims of gun violence. It is time to make sure that we never accept shootings like this as normal, and it is time to vote for candidates who care more about children than about lining their pockets from donations from the gun lobby.

I urge you to stand up for life and love by doing everything you can to become agents of change. Write letters. Make phone calls. Run for office. And above all, vote. If your representative doesn’t represent you, do everything in your power to elect someone who will.

Barbara Garland
May, 2022