However, while I've been sharing my thoughts of the last 36 or so hours very actively on Twitter, it occurs to me, my "followers" there are mostly in agreement with my political views (and those who aren't are good enough friends to know that I'm okay with civil disagreement when it comes to political discourse); that said, I have 600+ "friends" who should know that I'm not okay with what happened in Newtown Friday. I'm not okay with what happened in Oregon Tuesday. I'm not okay with what happened in Aurora in July. I'm not okay with what happened in Arizona last January.
During Clinton's presidency the country had an assault weapons ban. The last administration let that ban expire without batting an eyelash.
I've seen many voice concerns over the last 5 years that, if elected, Obama would take their guns away; clinging to their bibles & the 2nd amendment as if the idea that we not be allowed to protect ourselves would cause our world would come to an end. To those, I have this to say, clearly Obama didn't want your guns, because he has done absolutely nothing on gun control during his first term. Also, his election & re-election didn't destroy your worlds. But, Friday, 26 families had their worlds stop spinning when a guy with access to 3 semi-automatic weapons (all registered & purchased legally by his mother in CT) went on a 2 minute shooting spree that ended when he took his own life. (If you ask me, he did it in the wrong order; otherwise, 26 families wouldn't spend the holidays grieving their losses.) It's inexcusable to stand by, doing nothing to prevent the same thing from happening again. Absolutely unacceptable. I thought maybe, after the Virginia Tech massacre, President Bush would have entertained a conversation on re-establishing the assault weapons ban, but no. Then, when the Congresswoman was shot I thought, President Obama will make sure this never happens again, that we might tighten our gun laws a little, but no, it "wasn't the right time to talk about gun control".
Now, not just the nation, but around the world, people are trying to understand the madness that took 20 'babies'; 20 children who had nothing but possibilities waiting for them. I'm sorry but I don't believe it's impossible to mourn our losses while we fix the problem. There is no reason any private citizen needs an assault riffle or a handgun. These are not weapons that were made for hunting, these weapons were created to kill. As I told a friend on Tuesday, nobody wants to eat Bambi after he's been shot up with an AK-47.
I honestly don't care if you disagree with me, as I said before, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I urge you, if you agree that we need immediate action, that it should not be easier to purchase a gun than cast a vote, that a child's life is more valuable than your right to carry a gun, please join me in contacting the people who can make these changes. Call, email, tweet...however you want to do it, contact your congressperson, your senators & the president (If you need contact info, let me know, I'd be happy to google it for you!) and beg them to have this conversation & take immediate action. It's one thing to be upset by a tragedy like this, but if you don't take action, those tears mean very little.
I'm not okay with what happened Friday & I could go on forever about the gifts under Christmas trees that will never be opened or the innocence lost by kids who were led out of their school & told to hold their hands over their eyes because the bloody hallways with bodies of teachers & classmates can be disturbing, especially if you're under the age of 10, but I will step off my soap box.
What happened is unimaginable (to the point I don't even want to bring a child into a world like this) but we can stop it from happening again. And if we can't, I don't want to be the kind of person who says I never tried.
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