Yesterday morning I voted and just for fun stuck the "I Voted" sticker on my car dashboard. It was a little joke that I was sharing with a couple of my friends. It's a rare time when I don't vote... I think I've only missed voting in one election.
Today this sticker means more than most times. Just before noon on Tuesday, May 24, an eighteen year old "man" walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and began shooting. He killed at least 19 little children and two teachers. Before going on the murderous rampage he shot to kill his own grandmother. Other people were shot and wounded including law enforcement officers. I'm praying the other shooting victims survive.
We don't know yet know why this man-child did this. Maybe something will be learned in the coming days and weeks but it doesn't matter as long as this state and country refuses to enact any logical gun control measures.
On my Facebook page I posted a quote from a source, Positive Outlooks.
My post reads as follows:
"Something to think about on another terribly sad morning.
"I'm thinking about my family, my neighbors, my town, my state, my country.
"I'm wondering, how can we make it a better, safer, happier place to live? More guns are not the answer. More and better gun control is a start to a better answer.
"Those of you who read this are likely as concerned as I am. Life as we know it can only change for the better if responsible laws are passed. To pass those laws it requires us citizens and voters to demand changes; to get out to the polls and cast our ballots. VOTE as if lived depend on it because lives do. VOTE!!!"
I want all my family, friends, acquaintances, and people I haven't met to know that you matter. All around the world people matter ... they matter to me. The families in Uvalde matter. They mattered before this crime took place and they matter now. The shooter mattered and it is unfathomable that whatever hatred was within him went undetected. Even if it was known he was disturbed maybe the extent of his problems and what he was capable of could not be comprehended by those around him.
To my family and friends please know how thankful I am that you are in my life.
Guns used to be for hunters. They were rifles to shoot turkeys with, or sometimes a deer. Then the numbers of hunters decreased, so the NRA looked for more clients, and found a new narrative: Guns mean FREEDOM, keep your fingers from regulation! ANY regulation. So it has become a political thing, not one of sense and morals. I don`t know how this narrative can be changed. But I know that America is losing its reputation, and I am so very sad for this.
ReplyDeleteAngela, thank you for your comment. It feels like a Texas thing, but I know it's nationwide.
DeletePoignant post, Cheryl, expressing what so many of us feel. Another component of this is the public funds diverted away from agencies or programs used to help neglected, abandoned or troubled youth, as if such help can be withdrawn without any repercussions.
ReplyDeleteLinda, thanks for reading and many thanks for caring.
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DeleteI find this morning that I have inadvertently aligned myself with those arguing "mental health" and advocating for more mental hospitals, and don't touch our guns. Not my intentions. When we were reading God Save Texas and learned about the monies diverted from social workers and other services for children brought into the foster system, I was thinking about the children whom a Texas acquaintance takes in at a moment's notice and she mentions how shorthanded the system is. That's what I was referencing, the account that some foster children are sleeping in offices while a foster home is found. Along with that, I sure wish the teen who lives nearby and owns three assault weapons, including one he assembled himself from parts ordered online, had encountered more restrictions than he did.
DeleteLet's start with banning combat type weaponry and enacting the same sort of requirement for a driving license. Of course, mental health needs more funding but seeing results from that will take a while.
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