Imagine for a moment that you are on your way to the grocery store. You are listening to the radio which is just background music at the moment. You are thinking about supper and anticipating the kids coming by. A barbeque, if you will. Steaks, salad, iced lemonade and the Tres Lechen cake awaiting the fresh fruit. It is going to be perfect! The kids are a delight and very responsible. The grand kids are always a treat! You are not planning on leaving the house, just watching a movie and enjoying the kids.
Your phone flashes a bulletin incoming, so you pull over to the side of the road. You have an uneasy feeling, but you always do, because you know it is not going to be good and you volunteer at the crisis center. That is where trauma victims are sent. You are the lady at the desk who tries to make some sort of normalcy out of complete chaos. You are one of several. There is usually not much going on in a town this size, but it is best to be prepared.
"Active shooter at the City Park swimming pool. All law enforcement are active. It appears to be a lone gunman with a high velocity rapid fire gun of some sort. Stay tuned."
And you do stay tuned, but you have altered your route and you are heading for the center. As you pull into the parking lot you see more people arriving. You hurry inside thinking that you must call the kids. Soon. Now you have other things to do. The place is filling up and you have a job to do.
Now stop and think. Scenes like this are becoming an every day occurrence. Maybe not in your town, but all across our land. One man (and I am sorry, but I have not read of a woman perpetuating one of these crimes.) Some where someone has decided that it is in the best interest of himself and God only knows who else, to pick up a high powered rifle or a rapid fire gun and go shoot people. Aside from the people who are killed or injured and their families and friends, lets take this even further.
You are now directly affected. You will know the victims and/or their family members. The news will pre-empt your regular evening news. The barbeque is now on hold. And of course, in the back of your mind you are replaying the last conversation with your daughter-in-law. Were the kids going to the pool? You do not remember.
You are now more directly affected. Your plans have been changed, not by anything you changed, but by a stranger who changed your world, but only for a day or 2. But let's take this even further.
Your daughter in law had taken your grandson to the pool before heading over to your house for supper. You are now directly affected even more. Was he there? Had he come and gone? Were they both safe? Or were they both dead? You are numb. You can not function. The only thing that will give you back a sense of anything is to hold your loved ones in your arms. Until that moment happens you can do nothing, but pray.
It is on the news now. It is over. 8 children were killed by a man with a gun. Many more were injured. The gunman was captured and disarmed. Small consolation. Where is your family? Where is your grandson? Where is your son?
The only thing that could be worse then your family members being killed is if your family member did the killing. We are living in a fast paced world where the news unfolds before our eyes and within a matter of hours the authorities have answers. What started out as a trip to the store has now ended up in total chaos. What happened to the order of life? Grow up. Get married. Have kids to grow up and get married. Do we plan on chaos? No, we do not, but our society today makes chaos a reality and an expectation.
We are not allowed to change things to prevent this either, are we? We can not pass a law about gun control or background checks, or any thing that might infringe on some body's right to the second amendment. What about this scenario even hints at the second amendment? A well regulated militia is a far cry from what we have now. Oh, we have a well regulated militia, but it is not these nuts with guns that are contributing to that scenario. These men who take it upon themselves to kill innocent people are not operating in a vacuum. They deal daily with people and they need to be accountable. If you encounter a mad dog on the street, you call the animal control. If you encounter a raging man with a gun, you should be able to call someone.
I guess what I am trying to say is this. When you think someone is a loose cannon, tell some one. When your brother in law is ranting and raving about killing the scum and draining the swamp, tell some one. The worst that can happen is you are wrong. The best is you may prevent a mass shooting. We have got to police our environment, because no one else is doing it for us. I see no end in sight for this debacle. Congress is owned by the NRA and the NRA says there is no problem. How many years did it take with the Koch brothers poisoning our environment before we finally got a label on their products?
Research your candidates. Don't just rely on a television advertisement. When you recommend a person to make laws to protect us, make sure that is what they stand for and while they are in office, hold their feet to the fire. Make sure you point out to them what you want and what you will not stand for while they are in office.
Peace.
Your phone flashes a bulletin incoming, so you pull over to the side of the road. You have an uneasy feeling, but you always do, because you know it is not going to be good and you volunteer at the crisis center. That is where trauma victims are sent. You are the lady at the desk who tries to make some sort of normalcy out of complete chaos. You are one of several. There is usually not much going on in a town this size, but it is best to be prepared.
"Active shooter at the City Park swimming pool. All law enforcement are active. It appears to be a lone gunman with a high velocity rapid fire gun of some sort. Stay tuned."
And you do stay tuned, but you have altered your route and you are heading for the center. As you pull into the parking lot you see more people arriving. You hurry inside thinking that you must call the kids. Soon. Now you have other things to do. The place is filling up and you have a job to do.
Now stop and think. Scenes like this are becoming an every day occurrence. Maybe not in your town, but all across our land. One man (and I am sorry, but I have not read of a woman perpetuating one of these crimes.) Some where someone has decided that it is in the best interest of himself and God only knows who else, to pick up a high powered rifle or a rapid fire gun and go shoot people. Aside from the people who are killed or injured and their families and friends, lets take this even further.
You are now directly affected. You will know the victims and/or their family members. The news will pre-empt your regular evening news. The barbeque is now on hold. And of course, in the back of your mind you are replaying the last conversation with your daughter-in-law. Were the kids going to the pool? You do not remember.
You are now more directly affected. Your plans have been changed, not by anything you changed, but by a stranger who changed your world, but only for a day or 2. But let's take this even further.
Your daughter in law had taken your grandson to the pool before heading over to your house for supper. You are now directly affected even more. Was he there? Had he come and gone? Were they both safe? Or were they both dead? You are numb. You can not function. The only thing that will give you back a sense of anything is to hold your loved ones in your arms. Until that moment happens you can do nothing, but pray.
It is on the news now. It is over. 8 children were killed by a man with a gun. Many more were injured. The gunman was captured and disarmed. Small consolation. Where is your family? Where is your grandson? Where is your son?
The only thing that could be worse then your family members being killed is if your family member did the killing. We are living in a fast paced world where the news unfolds before our eyes and within a matter of hours the authorities have answers. What started out as a trip to the store has now ended up in total chaos. What happened to the order of life? Grow up. Get married. Have kids to grow up and get married. Do we plan on chaos? No, we do not, but our society today makes chaos a reality and an expectation.
We are not allowed to change things to prevent this either, are we? We can not pass a law about gun control or background checks, or any thing that might infringe on some body's right to the second amendment. What about this scenario even hints at the second amendment? A well regulated militia is a far cry from what we have now. Oh, we have a well regulated militia, but it is not these nuts with guns that are contributing to that scenario. These men who take it upon themselves to kill innocent people are not operating in a vacuum. They deal daily with people and they need to be accountable. If you encounter a mad dog on the street, you call the animal control. If you encounter a raging man with a gun, you should be able to call someone.
I guess what I am trying to say is this. When you think someone is a loose cannon, tell some one. When your brother in law is ranting and raving about killing the scum and draining the swamp, tell some one. The worst that can happen is you are wrong. The best is you may prevent a mass shooting. We have got to police our environment, because no one else is doing it for us. I see no end in sight for this debacle. Congress is owned by the NRA and the NRA says there is no problem. How many years did it take with the Koch brothers poisoning our environment before we finally got a label on their products?
Research your candidates. Don't just rely on a television advertisement. When you recommend a person to make laws to protect us, make sure that is what they stand for and while they are in office, hold their feet to the fire. Make sure you point out to them what you want and what you will not stand for while they are in office.
Peace.
