The most heart-breaking news this week was the school shooting in Florida. It's become a broken record with the same platitudes... and mass shootings are happening with such frequency that I think people are becoming numb to it. Obama said that Sandy Hook really hit him hard, and he tried to pass legislation to make it harder for those with mental illness to get guns. Well, Trump and Republicans reversed that and are now saying mental illness is the problem, not guns... And that it was the fault of various law enforcement agencies for not following up on it. There's a grain of truth in the different areas that need improvement, but I don't see why all of these areas can't be worked on.
There's been discussion about how teachers should be armed, or how every school should have armed security. We have teachers that have to buy some of their own supplies. How are we going to get funding for all the training, guns, ammo and/or extra security guards? Honestly, this is a broken record and nobody is really trying to fix it. You have people getting huge donations from the NRA for their political campaigns. I'm pretty sure our founding fathers didn't think about these mass shootings with semi-automatic weapons when they wrote the second amendment. I don't begrudge anybody their rifles, shotguns, handguns that are used for self-defense or hunting/sport. But shouldn't there be various licenses to get different type of guns? Kind of like how you need a certain type of driving license to drive a big rig?
Of course those with mental illness and fanatics are the ones shooting up schools, churches, etc. But to think "it's the people, not the guns" is a ridiculous argument because we all know it's both. Sure, a truly murderous person can use a knife. But as they say, "You don't bring a knife to a gunfight." Why can't we address both gun control along with mental and emotional health? Why do the gun lobbyists not want to address gun control? Greed, that's why. NRA lobbyists are willing to give millions to congress members because it begets them even more money in return. Common sense gun control is as simple as ensuring you're locking up your guns so the toddler doesn't get a hold of it. It means not allowing those with mental illness or those with a background of ANY kind of domestic abuse to own a gun. It means not selling guns over the internet. It means not selling bumper stocks (or whatever they're called) that turn guns into semi-automatics.
This is one of the main reasons I went from being politically Independent to Democrat. The GOP is so busy trying to defend guns (and their NRA funding) that they won't address the issue of common sense gun control. They aren't even addressing mental health or any of the other things they claim is causing these shootings. And this is not their only broken record - I'll discuss Healthcare, Immigration, the Deficit another day. For now, protecting our citizens from homegrown AMERICAN TERRORISTS should be something all citizens can unite on no matter the political leanings... and we're tired of hearing the same old broken record.
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