I try not to get into the habit of looking down on younger people. I don't always succeed--I'm 52 as of today, and it gets harder each year--but I do try. Especially since I've been called down about it at least once.
But kids, you've got to meet me halfway here, and this ain't it.
What I'm talking about is a student op-ed that is full of the anti-gun brainrot that is perpetuated, but is also easily debunked with even two minutes of research.
Let's start with this, shall we?
To me, the root of the issue has always been clear. It’s the guns. The data support this. The states with the highest firearm mortality rates are Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Wyoming. These same states also have some of the weakest gun control laws. In the years since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Congress has failed to pass a major gun-control bill. The last significant federal legislation addressing firearms — the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban — expired over two decades ago. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has since wielded enough influence to prevent similar legislation from gaining traction.
Which is funny, because the celebration surrounding the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act called it a major gun control measure. I guess that doesn't count now? Just a couple of minutes of research should have fixed that, but hey, college students can't be bothered to read more than a page or two of anything anymore, so what do I expect?
Also, why is it that the NRA wields so much power? Could it be that their members are their power, and lawmakers understand that if they infringe on gun rights, the voters will remove them? Could it be that these voters also remind candidates that the Second Amendment is the law of the land, and gun control is unconstitutional?
Nah, it couldn't be that, I'm sure.
As for those four states, I note that she stops before she gets to New Mexico, which is an anti-gun state, but is right up there. The truth is that there are a lot more pro-gun states than anti-gun ones, so it's not hard to frame things to make those pro-gun states look bad.
However, those four states have a lot more going on.
When we look abroad, the comparison becomes even more damning. Take Switzerland. Gun ownership is legal there, but it's regulated… citizens must obtain a permit, pass background checks and meet strict criteria. The result? Switzerland has not seen a mass shooting since 2001. These regulations are not about stripping citizens of their rights, but about ensuring that the right to bear arms is matched with the responsibility to use them safely.
But they are about stripping citizens of their rights.
Switzerland doesn't have some equivalent of the Second Amendment. European nations don't at all. So, people are stripped of their gun rights on a regular basis.
And yes, they have lower "gun homicide" rates. They have lower total homicide rates, though.
What I mean is their total homicide rates are lower than our non-gun homicide rates.
But now, I'm about to stop being nice.
The most disheartening part of the problem is how little lawmakers care. It feels as though the moment Sandy Hook happened, the possibility for serious reform died alongside those children. Instead of addressing the root of the crisis, political leaders have grown desensitized, offering only hollow condolences and recycled platitudes.
This is why I absolutely loathe the average anti-gunner. They presume to know what we think, what we feel, and what we care about. They assume that because we don't embrace their solutions, we don't want any solutions at all. They presume to tell the world that we're all heartless bastards who aren't bothered by dead kids.
Never mind that some of us, just like their anti-gun heroes, have lost people we care about. Never mind that many of us have seen terror that someone living in the ivory tower of academia, at least for now, will never experience. They should be thankful.
The problem is that this pompous twit, who is absolutely sure of her own righteousness, has never looked at anything beyond what has been placed in front of her.
The worst school massacre in American history didn't involve guns at all. Other massacres happened where no gun control law being considered now would have stopped it. Other massacres were likely the result of gun control.
A little education would go a long way, and it would show this twit that the root cause cannot be guns because massacres happen without guns all the time.
Finally, let's get to this part:
Lastly, we must address the phrase that has become synonymous with inaction: “thoughts and prayers.” These words, repeated after every mass shooting, have lost all meaning. They serve as a way for politicians to appear compassionate without actually doing anything to solve the crisis. Of course, it is human to grieve, to mourn and to hope. But thoughts and prayers without policy change are empty. They cannot stop bullets. They cannot save lives. At some point, words must be followed by action.
I'm so absolutely sick of this whole thing bashing "thoughts and prayers."
What else are people supposed to say? What else are they supposed to offer in the immediate aftermath? Even if they're open to gun control, they can't really do anything else right then and there, so what are they supposed to say?
If every pro-gun lawmaker capitulated to this demand and stopped offering those "thoughts and prayers," this twit would lose her ever-loving mind.
And the problem with "policy change" is that we all know she just means gun control. No other policy change would be acceptable, which is absolute nonsense.
This is what our universities are churning out, ladies and gentlemen.
This is why trade school is a better option for your kids.
