I was never afraid of gun violence, personally. Horrified, yes, at what was happening in this nation for the past 30 years. I'm 70, and I well remember the shooting by a 25-year-old mentally ill man from the bell tower at the University of TX in 1966 where 15 died and 31 were injured. No one could believe it. I still remember the shock of the adults around me. A dear friend lost a niece in the shooting in 2012 at the Aurora, CO movie theater. My own niece, a teacher in KY for 25 years, goes to school every day, frightened -- as are her 6th grade students -- that "is today the day?" Despite all of this, I personally experienced no fear, UNTIL. A couple of months ago, I was sitting in the large waiting room of a Social Security Administration office. I suddenly found myself having a panic attack (first ever), thinking, "OMG, what if there's someone in here with a gun who decides to start shooting??!! There's no way out!!" And that is when I realized what has become of the America I once knew, as a child, as a teen, as a young adult. What a HORROR we are forcing our younger generations to experience!!!
Yes...this is exactly how I feel as well. I now enter most situations with a mental assessment of my surroundings. I assess others behavior much more critically than the past. My neighbor met me at the mailbox recently touting that he never leaves the house unless he has his pistol in his pocket! My own mailbox is no longer safe. Assume that every ‘Merican is locked and loaded. (((Scream))))
I think the position you outline is a very reasonable strategy and therefore good. I also believe that if the Equal Rights Amendment were published as part of our constitution NOW it would move us along toward detoxing extreme masculinity and sexism and dismantling patriarchal, violent gun culture. I have been watching and studying this since I was very small. The use of force and toxic patriarchy have always been linked.
Former Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative, said the idea that there was an individual right to bear arms was "a fraud."
I saw someone on Twitter suggested we require insurance for every gun sold in this country.
If we break the Senate filibuster and if we can continue to flip more State Legislatures blue we have a chance to get this done, and the last midterms show this is a good new trend.
We all have insurance for our cars, homes, business, health, our very life so why not require an insurance policy for a weapon in case it is used to kill or harm.
Most Americans support common gun safety laws so that’s the good news.
The NRA does not represent the Americans who are members, 4 million or so, but the gun manufacturers and we all know this.
Republicans will pull out the 2nd amendment because it is easy and a cheap shield to stand behind.
And Republicans have a history of opposing basic safety measures like seat belts, tobacco warnings, food calorie postings, and so much more.
I recently joined a local chapter of Moms Demand. Hope you all can consider doing the same.
Thank you Mary for this brilliant and lucid break down of this critical and frightening issue we all face in this country. Very helpful.
Thank you for this. I said not too long ago that I'll believe there's a politician who is really serious about ending the gun carnage in this country when I hear one talking about whether we need to repeal the 2nd Amendment or whether there is an effective alternative to repeal. I'm a retired attorney, so the Constitution is practically holy to me, but if the choice is between being against the Second Amendment (as currently interpreted by SCOTUS) and being against private ownership of weapons of war, you can mark me down as opposing the Second Amendment every time.
"And when you’re forced to negotiate with people who aren’t operating in good faith—as Democrats always seem to be—you must always stake out a position that is the diametric opposite of theirs. Every elected Republican advocates for all people to have unfettered access to every kind of gun in all places at all times. The Democrats’ opening bid, therefore, should be that nobody should have access to any kind of gun anywhere at any time."
Agreed.
I'm sharing on Facebook this important post. Thank you, Mary.
Far beyond extreme. Take this idea to its logical conclusion and whichever political entities adopt it will be annihilated. unless protected by warriors. Two examples of that: Mennonites and the Amish are both pacifism oriented. They wouldn't exist without the US culture of violence.
Why do you think Putin has been linked to the NRA? He enjoys stirring civil unrest in Democracies around the world. There’s a reason other than profit that has stopped the GOP from passing gun laws. Think about it.
Great article....The republicans are against abortion but slaughtering our children is OK......We have some sort of bizarre death culture......No one should have a gun.....the only fear is that maybe I need a gun if some fascist takes over our government....It is as if the "world" has gone mad.....and why shouldn't it. Somehow we have to reinvent how to live together. Thank you for writing....
I've had the same thought: what if fascists overthrow the government, and our family would actually NEED a gun? Hideous to even have to contemplate such an idea.
Protection against the government is the weakest rationalization gun fetishists offer for their twisted beliefs. If oppressive parties take control of the government and want to arrest opponents, they will have far greater firepower than any household, even one with multiple AR-15 style semiautomatic "sporting rifles" and personal body armor.
Should a small government force be fought off by the citizen, and a second assault of the same type deemed unlikely to succeed, many options remain. Many states and some counties and localities have militarized law enforcement agencies -- trained snipers, armored vehicles that can ram through heavy doors and some walls while protecting the attackers, and access to aircraft from which to drop explosives. (I know that last sounds ridiculous, but it happened in Philadelphia in 1985.)
Thank you Mary. I’d just like to point out that NC just recently changed laws and no longer requires any background or other check on gun purchases/ownership. At this time, to my knowledge, there are no restrictions on gun ownership or concealed or any other type of carry. Republican supermajority legislature has changed everything. And Georgia, of course, just removed any restrictions on gun ownership or carry, including accepting concealed carry permits from other states to be valid in Georgia? I don’t know, it just seems overwhelming as these Republican states/governors/legislatures continue to upend any controls on open carry anywhere, at any time, regardless of circumstance. Witness that shooting in an Atlanta hospital/clinic where an angry frustrated patient pulled out a handgun and shot several people when reportedly thwarted in getting a prescription of his choice for anti-anxiety meds! Would that - could that - have happened without recent changes in Georgia gun laws removing any controls or restrictions on guns anywhere in the state? It’s insane, and yet, governor after governor, state and federal legislators, continue to extoll the virtues of gun ownership by infants and toddlers, their children and grandchildren, as though this is the most normal thing possible. Why can these people not see what they are doing? Not hear the lunacy of what they are doing? Not realize the irresponsibility of these choices?
And in California gun rights groups are seeking to overturn the 10 day waiting period for new gun owners “ a right delayed is a right denied” filed in San Diego hoping to be able to change judges and get the pro 2nd amendment one. Nothing will be done till the generations that have lived with the active shooter drill come to power till then it’s thoughts and prayers which to my knowledge has never brought any of the dead back to life.
I fully agree with you, Mary. I would like to see the 2nd Amendment repealed. The framers of the Constitution had no way of foreseeing the types of weapons, nor the craziness in humans that would exist in the 21st century, for if they had, they would NOT have written the 2nd Amendment into the Constitution. Or they would have at the very least put very specific limitations on it.
They DID put limitations on it! Everyone ignores the fact that it says that CONGRESS may put together WELL REGULATED citizen militias, UNDER THEIR REGULATION.
It never says that anyone can, on their own, amass a private military stockhold or that tribes of people can put together their own militias or be a militia of one, without regulation. What a mess.
I was never afraid of gun violence, personally. Horrified, yes, at what was happening in this nation for the past 30 years. I'm 70, and I well remember the shooting by a 25-year-old mentally ill man from the bell tower at the University of TX in 1966 where 15 died and 31 were injured. No one could believe it. I still remember the shock of the adults around me. A dear friend lost a niece in the shooting in 2012 at the Aurora, CO movie theater. My own niece, a teacher in KY for 25 years, goes to school every day, frightened -- as are her 6th grade students -- that "is today the day?" Despite all of this, I personally experienced no fear, UNTIL. A couple of months ago, I was sitting in the large waiting room of a Social Security Administration office. I suddenly found myself having a panic attack (first ever), thinking, "OMG, what if there's someone in here with a gun who decides to start shooting??!! There's no way out!!" And that is when I realized what has become of the America I once knew, as a child, as a teen, as a young adult. What a HORROR we are forcing our younger generations to experience!!!
Yes...this is exactly how I feel as well. I now enter most situations with a mental assessment of my surroundings. I assess others behavior much more critically than the past. My neighbor met me at the mailbox recently touting that he never leaves the house unless he has his pistol in his pocket! My own mailbox is no longer safe. Assume that every ‘Merican is locked and loaded. (((Scream))))
What a way to live!
A small correction. Whitman's attack in Austin happened in 1966.
Thank you! I corrected it.
I think the position you outline is a very reasonable strategy and therefore good. I also believe that if the Equal Rights Amendment were published as part of our constitution NOW it would move us along toward detoxing extreme masculinity and sexism and dismantling patriarchal, violent gun culture. I have been watching and studying this since I was very small. The use of force and toxic patriarchy have always been linked.
Former Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative, said the idea that there was an individual right to bear arms was "a fraud."
I saw someone on Twitter suggested we require insurance for every gun sold in this country.
If we break the Senate filibuster and if we can continue to flip more State Legislatures blue we have a chance to get this done, and the last midterms show this is a good new trend.
We all have insurance for our cars, homes, business, health, our very life so why not require an insurance policy for a weapon in case it is used to kill or harm.
Most Americans support common gun safety laws so that’s the good news.
The NRA does not represent the Americans who are members, 4 million or so, but the gun manufacturers and we all know this.
Republicans will pull out the 2nd amendment because it is easy and a cheap shield to stand behind.
And Republicans have a history of opposing basic safety measures like seat belts, tobacco warnings, food calorie postings, and so much more.
I recently joined a local chapter of Moms Demand. Hope you all can consider doing the same.
Thank you Mary for this brilliant and lucid break down of this critical and frightening issue we all face in this country. Very helpful.
I agree with every single point you make. Reasonable, well thought-out, doable.
Thank you for this. I said not too long ago that I'll believe there's a politician who is really serious about ending the gun carnage in this country when I hear one talking about whether we need to repeal the 2nd Amendment or whether there is an effective alternative to repeal. I'm a retired attorney, so the Constitution is practically holy to me, but if the choice is between being against the Second Amendment (as currently interpreted by SCOTUS) and being against private ownership of weapons of war, you can mark me down as opposing the Second Amendment every time.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” <screams>
Guns and culture are inextricably tied together. We have a toxic culture that deifies weapons.
According to the stats Mary has provided here, we have a toxic SUBCULTURE, a minority, that deifies weapons. In my book, majority rules.
if majority rules I don't understand why there are 300+ million largely unregulated firearms in circulation.
"Might is right" is only a temporary solution.
Democratic rule by civilians is a permanent dream in the process of being realized.
I’m with you Mary, and as a Canadian, I just don’t understand American gun culture - at all.
As an American, neither do I!
An armed society is obviously a deadly society.
"And when you’re forced to negotiate with people who aren’t operating in good faith—as Democrats always seem to be—you must always stake out a position that is the diametric opposite of theirs. Every elected Republican advocates for all people to have unfettered access to every kind of gun in all places at all times. The Democrats’ opening bid, therefore, should be that nobody should have access to any kind of gun anywhere at any time."
Agreed.
I'm sharing on Facebook this important post. Thank you, Mary.
Far beyond extreme. Take this idea to its logical conclusion and whichever political entities adopt it will be annihilated. unless protected by warriors. Two examples of that: Mennonites and the Amish are both pacifism oriented. They wouldn't exist without the US culture of violence.
Why do you think Putin has been linked to the NRA? He enjoys stirring civil unrest in Democracies around the world. There’s a reason other than profit that has stopped the GOP from passing gun laws. Think about it.
Great article....The republicans are against abortion but slaughtering our children is OK......We have some sort of bizarre death culture......No one should have a gun.....the only fear is that maybe I need a gun if some fascist takes over our government....It is as if the "world" has gone mad.....and why shouldn't it. Somehow we have to reinvent how to live together. Thank you for writing....
I've had the same thought: what if fascists overthrow the government, and our family would actually NEED a gun? Hideous to even have to contemplate such an idea.
Guns won't help you much, if that happens.
Protection against the government is the weakest rationalization gun fetishists offer for their twisted beliefs. If oppressive parties take control of the government and want to arrest opponents, they will have far greater firepower than any household, even one with multiple AR-15 style semiautomatic "sporting rifles" and personal body armor.
Should a small government force be fought off by the citizen, and a second assault of the same type deemed unlikely to succeed, many options remain. Many states and some counties and localities have militarized law enforcement agencies -- trained snipers, armored vehicles that can ram through heavy doors and some walls while protecting the attackers, and access to aircraft from which to drop explosives. (I know that last sounds ridiculous, but it happened in Philadelphia in 1985.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing?wprov=sfla1
If the federal government gets involved, well... you're dead. Think armored vehicles carrying troops, long-range snipers, mortars, rockets, drones
Thank you Mary. I’d just like to point out that NC just recently changed laws and no longer requires any background or other check on gun purchases/ownership. At this time, to my knowledge, there are no restrictions on gun ownership or concealed or any other type of carry. Republican supermajority legislature has changed everything. And Georgia, of course, just removed any restrictions on gun ownership or carry, including accepting concealed carry permits from other states to be valid in Georgia? I don’t know, it just seems overwhelming as these Republican states/governors/legislatures continue to upend any controls on open carry anywhere, at any time, regardless of circumstance. Witness that shooting in an Atlanta hospital/clinic where an angry frustrated patient pulled out a handgun and shot several people when reportedly thwarted in getting a prescription of his choice for anti-anxiety meds! Would that - could that - have happened without recent changes in Georgia gun laws removing any controls or restrictions on guns anywhere in the state? It’s insane, and yet, governor after governor, state and federal legislators, continue to extoll the virtues of gun ownership by infants and toddlers, their children and grandchildren, as though this is the most normal thing possible. Why can these people not see what they are doing? Not hear the lunacy of what they are doing? Not realize the irresponsibility of these choices?
One thing all sane Americans can do is completely boycott states that do this. And I mean pull your company out of that state as well.
Don't fly in, don't drive there, don't buy online from a company that's in an anti gun Control state..
Until we hit them with real consequences, they won't care.
And in California gun rights groups are seeking to overturn the 10 day waiting period for new gun owners “ a right delayed is a right denied” filed in San Diego hoping to be able to change judges and get the pro 2nd amendment one. Nothing will be done till the generations that have lived with the active shooter drill come to power till then it’s thoughts and prayers which to my knowledge has never brought any of the dead back to life.
I subscribe to WaPo, so I can't tell if Mary's link is a gift link.
If it's behind a paywall for you, my gift link should get you past it to the article she cites in the opening.
https://wapo.st/3AXblsM
Judi - thank you. Truly disturbing, seeing that damage. 😢
I fully agree with you, Mary. I would like to see the 2nd Amendment repealed. The framers of the Constitution had no way of foreseeing the types of weapons, nor the craziness in humans that would exist in the 21st century, for if they had, they would NOT have written the 2nd Amendment into the Constitution. Or they would have at the very least put very specific limitations on it.
They DID put limitations on it! Everyone ignores the fact that it says that CONGRESS may put together WELL REGULATED citizen militias, UNDER THEIR REGULATION.
It never says that anyone can, on their own, amass a private military stockhold or that tribes of people can put together their own militias or be a militia of one, without regulation. What a mess.
This is so true and so perfectly described. Thank you for putting it into words.