Marginally Off Topic

 This is off the general topic, I know, and I apologize for that, however with it being such an important, and encompassing debate it’s difficult not to address it if you own a blog. The topic of Gun Control, or as I prefer to acknowledge it: Gun Safety. The conversation, as I have witnessed it, has become so overwhelmingly flout with sound bites, that there is no linear direction, or understanding of the topic, or as it is widely understood in the reflection of what the imposed intention is of either party. In other words, we are not having a conversation at all, but rather an uncontrollable debate of the surrounding misunderstandings, and misdirection that surround the conversation.

​It’s frustrating, to me, because the influence of the NRA is clearly effecting the political debate. You might think that, based on that statement alone, you have an idea of where I stand in the conversation, but I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss or accept me.

I believe in the necessity of the 2nd amendment. I understand its purpose, and I believe in individual rights of the American citizen. The intention of the 2nd amendment was to allow an oppressed population to stand up against a corrupt and overbearing government. The same corrupt and overbearing government that we’ve had (and has steadily grown worse) since the 60’s. With that said, and with the apparent lack of understanding for the protection of our rights, what purposes, really, does the 2nd amendment serve today?

Gun Safety and Gun regulations are a common sense step for a country as deeply impacted by the problems that we experience, in regards to gun violence. And neither Gun Safety nor Gun Regulation are an infringement on our rights. If you believe that they are then you are living with a misunderstanding of what it means. There are a lot of facts and statistics that I could waste my time listing here, but they are all available, if you care enough to actually look. However if you’re not compelled to do a little research, I ask that you question whether your lack of interest is a result of political sound bites such as, “Guns aren’t the problem,” and “People will still be able to get guns if they are banned (or regulated),” “Guns are as dangerous as cars,” and  “Guns are a tool, like knives,” because, I would suggest that if you are influenced by these arguments that you are being apathetic, if, for no other reason, that regardless of if either, or any argument against better Gun Regulations were indeed accurate, it would still not be enough of a reason to do nothing. I’m not going to lecture, really, however I do implore you to do a little research.

The intention is not to ban guns, or, well, actually the intention is not to ban all guns, I mean there really are a couple of guns that nobody needs to own, despite some arguments it’s simply a fact. You don’t need a semiautomatic rifle (what is commonly, but inappropriately referred to as an assault rifle). It might be fun, and the act of owning it might impress on you some semblance of freedom that you, for whatever reason, feel like you don’t already have, but do you have to own a piece of everything to feel free? There are so many things that exist on this planet that are not available to you as an American, and still you’re not taken aback or affected by those, why?

​I believe that in order to buy a gun there should be a few simple requirments, and I might be persuaded to remove or to add to this list, but from my perspective the following should be agreeable.

If you want to buy a gun:

• 14 day waiting period
• No sales by private owners
• 10 rounds magazine limit
• No bump stocks
• Licenses for all arms
• Child lock requirements
• Minimum age of purchase at 21
• SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLE BAN
• Universal Background Check
• Domestic Violence Ban

 
It is too easy to get a gun. Period. And there is simply not enough of a basic familiarity and understanding of how, when, and why to use one, once you have a gun. There is, of course, an issue surrounding mental health, but that argument in, and of itself is more of a reason to establish better Gun Regulations that not to. And I would posit, even, that the issue of mental health is more of a foundational one that exists within the systems of our societal constructs, which is to say that our mental health issues and our gun control issues might be one and the same, and we are spending too much time and effort trying to disassociate the two. I believe that there is an oblique misunderstanding of our systems that intrigue us to sit around and debate that the problem is, "this" or "that," and a separate political problem exits when we find ourselves arguing between arbitrary ideas. Guns kill people, people kill people, and crazy people kill people. In reality Desensitized people kill people. This is not entirely a gun control issue, and it is not entirely a mental health issue. However it would be inappropriate to suggest that it is not at all a gun control issue, and not at all a mental health issue. Creating better Gun Regulations is just common sense, and, again, I’m not talking about banning guns, but developing better Gun Safety systems. In the same way that continuously developing better practices when understanding correlations between our mental health issues are pertinent. The requirements above are not unreasonable requests, and for most of you that own guns, or that would like to own guns you would be more than capable of passing the required regulations.

Every time there has been a mass shooting in this country, or at least in the last decade, we have had the same conversation, and gun rights enthusiasts are consistently coming up with new, and completely absurd arguments to maintain their position—for the American people to maintain a position. They are changing their story, because every time an act of mass gun violence occurs the people that are affected are no longer willing to listen to the nonsense. This time around, after the deaths of seventeen students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida it’s becoming more and more difficult not to listen, when students like Emma Gonzalez and Cameron Kasky are making incredible efforts, and unbelievably impassioned speeches calling out the hypocrisy that our country is facing, and the unfortunate disregard of our politicians to admit there’s a problem. Especially considering that no one, not a single politician is calling for the ban of all guns, but when there are 300 million guns in the United States, enough for nearly every man, woman and child in this country the means in which we come about getting our hands on guns, and the intention behind the trigger is an issue that we cannot continue to overlook.