The Unadulterated Truth

Yesterday was a remarkable day. 

We saw President Trump actually listening to young people and their parents.  We saw Marco Rubio, courageous at the very least, stand before a town meeting that excoriated his stance on gun safety and background checks.  We are seeing the ‘talk shows’ being stunned by the outpouring of emotion and anger and desperately trying to figure out whether all this is going to force change.

Hard to know. 

However from where I sit there are some facts that are incontrovertible.  Since Columbine, 19 years ago, we have had an ever-increasing occurrence of mass shootings, the most horrible being the school mass carnage that rip our hearts out each time they happen.

 

During those 19 years, the NRA has focused its attention on persuading everyone, and most especially our legislators, that anyone who wants to be sensible about regulations on sales, to have sensible changes in mental health guidelines, to have sensible restrictions on assault weapons is on a mission to ‘destroy the lives of true Americans’.  They sweeten that persuasion by contributing obscene amounts of money to further the campaign of any legislator who will climb on their nefarious bandwagon.

The unfortunate truth (fact), that we all must accept as reality, is that in those 19 years the policy of non-intervention of any kind by legislators has not helped the situation in any way.  Non-action has led to event after event, with an increasing tempo and increased lethality.  Doing nothing doesn’t work!  Can we all agree on that?  It is self-evident.

 

If you examine the legislative and industry actions over the same period you will find that there has been a creeping but inexorable lessening of regulation on firearms, assault weapons, efficacy of background check mechanisms, etc.  And there is a corresponding increase in false narratives by the NRA and it’s supporters that any action is a threat to the 2^nd Amendment and our freedom generally.  If you are unfortunate enough to be exposed to NRATV, apparently available on many cable systems, their messages are laced with untrue conspiracy statements and threats of violence and chaos. 

 

Even if you deny that this creeping relaxation of regulation is not to blame in any way for the increase in mass murders in schools, can we at least agree that it has not diminished it?  It is self-evident.

Is it so hard then to understand why we have finally seen the ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’?  And the backlash comes from the victims, as of course it should!  Who would have thought that teenagers would be so much more articulate than adults in being able to express the outrage felt by the victims and their families?  Children are being murdered and no one has had the balls to stop it.

Cultural change is what is needed, and perhaps the Parkland massacre was the tripwire for that change.  The Parkland students have finally said what needed to be said, “If you don’t provide a solution, we will vote you out!”

Indeed we will, and it can’t happen soon enough!

Do your homework. Choose your representatives wisely. VOTE!