Thoughts, And Prayers, My Ass! Standing up to Gun Control and More
That is what I shared on Facebook and Twitter the night of the Parkland Florida shooting… I could not bear another shooting. I did not watch the News, or any TV that night.
Not another shooting I thought to myself, my heart was heavy, tears could have started any moment. Although I couldn’t send my prayers out there through social media quietly, I whispered, dear God help them; please help us stop these unkind acts of violence.
Surprisingly, I was not the only one with the same sentiment on social media, this time I hoped that this event would make us talk about it for sure. My heart swelled when I heard a dad express so much sadness that is in his heart or witnessing a mom hug her child and sobbing because that child was not among the dead.
I did finally watch the news and saw what I did not want to see; another mass shooting. Yet seeing it all on the news and on social media not only was I reminded of one thing it confirmed
That “There but for the grace of God go I…
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and I wondered if all moms and dads, everyone feel the same as I do?
Days after the shooting we still watched; someone posted on Facebook the West Point honor at a boy’s funeral. I didn’t know what I thought about that; I might have been indifferent. What actually went through my mind was that maybe the West Point honor will help the family heal; maybe the mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandmom, granddad, cousin, and friend can allow him to rest easier knowing a great honor that was bestowed.
When my husband was 14 or 15 years old he lost his dad; his mom became a widow in her forties; years later when we were dating his mom would always mention the tombstone that was specially made for his grave; it is a stone carved into a heart and this headstone made her very proud that she can do this for the man she loved. Perhaps that helped her heal….
We all need and crave peace – in this case, some sort of peace of mind; an acceptance of sorts. A stupid convoluted delusional acceptance. Because the truth is even though I was not personally affected by the shooting; as a member of society I was affected, as everyone else should have been as well; we are left unscathed to pick up the pieces; clean-up the mess and raise our voices, sob, and wail because an unjust act was committed.
Because, by God, we should have done just that; raise our voices and wailed loud when all of the shootings before this one occurred.
Then it happened, the surviving students spoke up; every interview that was meant to rehash a hellish moment in their lives was used as an opportunity to talk about gun reform; talk about the shooter and his mental state, talk about our government, our elected officials, the NRA, and the Second Amendment.
They are speaking and they are rallying – Hallelujah!
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I am touched by their spirit and courage; I am also embarrassed and ashamed – they are making the change – I feel we let them down; our voices were not heard, in the past.
After every shooting that has occurred; after the condolences and prayers I always thought this will be the one that will change our gun laws, this will be the one where we will make it right … when nothing happened I thought what will it take – which shooting will be the one?
Maybe it is this one – maybe it is our children’s voices that will change the laws, I pray that it is….right now young folks everywhere are speaking out – the students have become the masters and it is our duty to join them and become more powerful.
I believe we need better gun laws; of course better screening (not only the person buying the guns) but every member of his household too. I believe we need to look closer at our health benefits and really figure out what the heck is going on with us…
Having said all of that, we are dealing with something so much bigger than gun violence; it is more than a law or an amendment, and it is not just a lobbyist.
We must also stop big money politics – we must stop corporations owning our government officials- they are not our representatives, although they promise what we want to hear; our politician’s pockets are already lined with an agenda and a promise; but not to us.
Therefore I implore our students, and young adults to continue raising their voices. And I am asking their parents and adults everywhere to join them to change all of the injustice, the corruption, the filth, and once and for all end collateral damage.
