Over the last two years, my principal at ASU would give current events updates during our morning announcements. The world being what it is, some of these announcements were sad and scary - shootings and terrorism, and the occasional update on the American president's newest idea - but she always ended on an upbeat, "Be grateful we live in Mongolia, where we are largely unaffected by these issues." Because kids don't shoot each other in Mongolia's schools, and while we have two big scary neighbors, they basically cancel each other out.
I woke up this morning to another shooting - Las Vegas. I grew up believing in the right to bear arms. They are kind of part of the country life. My Grandpa, Dad, and brother all owned and used them - my brother had his first BB gun before he started kindergarten. From a young age, I saw them used responsibly (mostly...maybe someone got the glass on their truck shot out by a young BB gun enthusiast once, but nobody ever got hurt), and had the truth of what they were impressed on my mind. Guns were useful tools, but they were deadly. They were not toys.
Today a student asked me if I missed America. If you've been around long enough, you know I have a complicated relationship with my home country, but I honestly don't know what to say about it anymore. The fact that these shootings keep happening again and again while lawmakers stand there impotent is inexplicable. Two athletes kneel peacefully in protest during the national anthem and the USA loses its fucking mind. Jobs lost, endorsements dropped. But what will be the repercussions from a shooting so bad that it stands out even amongst the last few bloody, bullet-riddled years? Most likely, people will post on facebook, "Prayers for Las Vegas." A few people will lose "friends" because they will take a stand and their friend will disagree violently. But the people who make the rules will be too cowardly to actually take action. I urge you to call them anyways, and make the next few weeks as uncomfortable as possible.
This summer, I spent my first Independence Day home in several years, and I was looking forward to barbecue and blowing shit up. On the 2nd, I went to church, where our usual fast and testimony meeting had a patriotic theme: more than one person came to the pulpit to testify that they knew our land was blessed, that it was the greatest nation in the world. The blessed part is Mormon doctrine, so I guess I can understand how so many normally good, normally intelligent Latter-Day Saints got suckered into voting for the Great Orange Monstrosity. The shocking part to me was that six months into his presidency, they were still spouting that shit. Two days later, my Mom and I went to a patriotic worship service at Glenwood Lake Park that morning. The preacher was a little more moderate, imploring us to put aside our differences and unify. He went on, though, to honor first responders, policemen, and the military. I bristled over the fact that he didn't include teachers, because here's the thing: using a gun is not the only way to save a life. In fact, it's not even the most effective way*. But don't let me get off topic - I was ranting about guns, not about the rednecks who have swapped their Confederate flags for the monochromatic Stars and Stripes, because "Back the Blue" sounds a lot less racist than "If the South had won we woulda had it made."
Shaggy used to talk about how guns don't kill people - people kill people, and I know he's right, but here's the thing: they're a pretty damn effective way to kill people. He would quote Switzerland's statistics, a country with similar guns legislation to the US, but I guess the Swiss aren't batshit crazy, because they don't have mass shootings - there's been one in the last 100 years. The US by comparison has had seven in the last week.
Since I woke up this morning I've read arguments on Facebook, about how guns are our constitutional right. Actually, assholes, it was an amendment, which is no less binding, but amendments sometimes need to be changed...or do you disagree with the repeal of prohibition? Because bringing that back might make your obsession with guns slightly safer...as would investing in mental health. But since that isn't happening, maybe you should go out and buy yourself another gun, because apparently that's the only way to protect yourself. If all those people at the concert had guns, this wouldn't have happened, right? #sarcasm
Listen. This is not okay. Maybe it's not my place to say; I don't even live in the US after all. But I have these kids, nieces and nephews, who shouldn't have to worry about being shot when they're out shopping. At a concert. Watching a movie. At school. I've traveled all over the world, walked down the streets of Cairo after dark and hiked the Diamond Mountain in North Korea and hardly given a second thought to my safety. A child growing up in the "greatest country in the world" shouldn't have to worry that they're going to be gunned down, and neither should their parents. If you think I'm overreacting, then you are NOT PAYING ATTENTION. If you are not scared and angry, then you are NOT PAYING ATTENTION. Wake up and start giving a damn before it's too late.
*I didn't want to make this post about teaching, so I'll skip over everything else America's teachers sacrifice and just say that - all things considered - they put their lives on the line each day, too.
This summer, I spent my first Independence Day home in several years, and I was looking forward to barbecue and blowing shit up. On the 2nd, I went to church, where our usual fast and testimony meeting had a patriotic theme: more than one person came to the pulpit to testify that they knew our land was blessed, that it was the greatest nation in the world. The blessed part is Mormon doctrine, so I guess I can understand how so many normally good, normally intelligent Latter-Day Saints got suckered into voting for the Great Orange Monstrosity. The shocking part to me was that six months into his presidency, they were still spouting that shit. Two days later, my Mom and I went to a patriotic worship service at Glenwood Lake Park that morning. The preacher was a little more moderate, imploring us to put aside our differences and unify. He went on, though, to honor first responders, policemen, and the military. I bristled over the fact that he didn't include teachers, because here's the thing: using a gun is not the only way to save a life. In fact, it's not even the most effective way*. But don't let me get off topic - I was ranting about guns, not about the rednecks who have swapped their Confederate flags for the monochromatic Stars and Stripes, because "Back the Blue" sounds a lot less racist than "If the South had won we woulda had it made."
Since I woke up this morning I've read arguments on Facebook, about how guns are our constitutional right. Actually, assholes, it was an amendment, which is no less binding, but amendments sometimes need to be changed...or do you disagree with the repeal of prohibition? Because bringing that back might make your obsession with guns slightly safer...as would investing in mental health. But since that isn't happening, maybe you should go out and buy yourself another gun, because apparently that's the only way to protect yourself. If all those people at the concert had guns, this wouldn't have happened, right? #sarcasm
*I didn't want to make this post about teaching, so I'll skip over everything else America's teachers sacrifice and just say that - all things considered - they put their lives on the line each day, too.
Amen. And Amen.
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