Safe, Loved, and Warm – where do the guns fit in?

Summary: They don’t!

Safe, Loved and Warm is my guidepost for how humanity should be treated. On Valentine’s Day, instead of worrying about if they’d get a card or a carnation at lunchtime, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School wondered if they were going to be shot dead. Because it was another School Shooting Day in America! And even if there haven’t been 18 school shootings this year (fake news is on both sides, people), there have been too many.

Let’s go with this stat instead: 2017 was the deadliest year for mass killings in a decade.

Schools should be some of the safest places in the country. For God’s sake, schools should be one of the places at the intersection of safe, loved, and warm! Actually, so should churches. And nightclubs. And even music festivals.

Pardon me while I channel my inner Julia Sugarbaker and break out the bold tags.

EVERY DAY I worry about my husband being shot at school. Not on the drive to school. Not a the Wawa while grabbing a coffee. Not walking into school. IN SCHOOL. Every June I am thankful he made it through another year. Every September I take a deep breath. When my mother finally retired, I rejoiced. WM and Mom aren’t cops or soldiers, or anyone with a job you’d naturally worry about gunfire with. They are teachers.

For comparison’s sake, my ex-husband (BvP, hello if you read!) is a pharmacist. He worked in a retail pharmacy handling narcotics until dark o’clock every night and I never worried about him being shot.

We will never be able to eliminate people who are angry and people who are broken. They will always exist and we must find ways to care for them compassionately. We can never control for that variable, but we can certainly do our best to control for the weaponry that they (and we) all apparently have easy access to.

We as a nation can no longer control who gets guns and how they are modded, so we as a nation have to take our medicine. Which is much more potent than mealy “thoughts and prayers.”

There is a place for thoughts and prayers, and it’s right next to “doing something.”

So what is the Gun Control plank of the Safe, Loved, and Warm platform? Here we go. Buckle up. Some of you won’t like it. But I hate having to show ID to get cold medicine or having my breasts touched at the airport and yet I’m doing just fine.

State stores for gun and ammo purchases.
When I want a bottle of wine, I have to go to a special store, show ID that proves I’m of age, and get my wine. It works for us here in NJ. I’m not doing anything wrong with my alcohol, so I don’t mind. If you’re a hunter, or a skeet shooter, or just like to take your handgun to the range, you should have zero problems with that accountability.

Ban the purchase of ANY firearm by anyone under the age of 25.
If you won’t rent a car to an 18 year old, you shouldn’t be selling weapons to them either.

End gun shows. We don’t need any more help with products to help us conceal weapons better or mod them to shoot faster or make them sexier.

These are actual banner ads on www dot gunshows dash usa dot com. Go look.

Stop the romanticization of gun culture.
Dressing babies in safety orange and camo for the Christmas card photo in the woods? Why?

Yeah, these are actual shirts for babies and children. Found via Google’s Shopping tab.

End the sales of funny-haha gun merchandise. Like this:

Again, easily findable on the internet. I can’t wait for Google ads to get a hold of my search history later tonight.

We need to start filing lawsuits against the NRA to bring it down. Because Congress isn’t going to do anything about this. If a bunch of country music loving Americans were shot in front of Jason Aldean and the politicians didn’t do anything THEN, they’re not going to do anything about kids (and teachers) in schools, or people in an office building. This is on us now.

“But what about people who run their cars into crowds?”
Murderers, but the purpose of a car is to transport people place to place. The primary purpose of a gun is to fire a bullet into something you want destroyed. Cars are also easier to duck, and harder to conceal.

“But what about people who stab with knives?”
Murders, but the purpose of a knife is to cut something, like a tasty steak, or a clamshell package, or a seatbelt. The primary purpose of a gun is to fire a bullet into something you want destroyed.

“Arm teachers!”
While WM is proficient with a gun, he’s not a security guard. But sure, let’s add “box of ammo” to your kid’s September school supply list, because some school districts can’t afford to buy copy paper after November. I’m sure the PTAs will be happy to hold Claire’s Gourmet fundraisers to arm the faculty.

“Okay, smartass, which guns should be illegal for a civilian to own?”
I don’t know enough about the terminology to make judgments, but there should be an independent commission of non-NRA-affiliated civilians to do the research and come up with recommendations. While I feel like they should all be bought back and melted down, there is a 2nd Amendment. I believe we need to realign what we call personal ownership of a firearm to the original spirit of the law as written. A tank is a vehicle. That doesn’t mean any Josephine can buy one to drive to the nail salon.

“Easy for you to say … you’ve never even shot a gun.”
Wrong. I have. There’s a picture somewhere. It was hella fun. I’m willing to not do that anymore.

“But sometimes you can’t control the sickos who want to murder!”
True, but it’ll be much easier if they can’t get a buy a gun. Or steal a gun from Mommy’s arsenal.

“What’s the point? If someone is determined, they’ll still get a gun.”
An umbrella doesn’t stop me from getting a little wet from rain, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth having around. Wouldn’t eliminating even 50% of shootings be worth the pain points? I think so.

You’re right. Lemme think.

Nah. People had fun hunting for years without being kitted out like a Navy SEAL to do so. They’ll adjust

It’s time to protect our kids, our teachers, and ourselves, and push for change. Change is hard, change hurts. But making sure our family, friends, and neighbors are safe, loved, and warm is worth it.

(Co-signed by my Mom.)