Keep Guns Away from Children and the Mentally Ill - Should Be Common Sense

Keep Guns Away from Children and the Mentally Ill – Should Be Common Sense

America has a long-standing love affair with guns. Ever since our founding fathers wrote it into the Constitution that we have the right to bear arms (2^nd amendment), we have almost been obsessed with collecting guns. I wonder, however, how many of those who are citing the 2^nd amendment as giving them the right to bear arms really know what that amendment actually says. The purpose of that amendment was to provide for a “well regulated militia” for “the security of a free state”. Nowhere in this amendment does it state that the average person has the right to, or even the need to, bear weapons such as the AR-15 (ArmaLite Rifle). Weapons such as the AR-15 may be necessary for the military and for certain sports such as hunting, but these weapons are making it into the hands of disturbed children and adults. This needs to stop.

We have had a problem with the mentally ill being able to easily access guns for decades. In 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1980, John Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman. In 1999, two young gunmen took 15 lives at Columbine High School. In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 33 people at Virginia Tech. In 2012, Adam Lanza killed 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary and James Holmes killed 12 and injured 70 others at a movie theater in Colorado. These are just a few of the most infamous incidents involving gun violence since the 1960s. When President Barack Obama sought to do something to lower the number of gun-related deaths by imposing stricter laws governing the sale and distribution of guns, gun enthusiasts and conservatives created panic by saying that he was going to take away their guns. Name one person whose gun was taken by Obama or his administration.

Last year, Donald Trump, as part of his agenda to undermine everything that Obama’s administration did during his 8 years in office, revoked a regulatory initiative that made it harder for the mentally ill to purchase guns. Since Trump took office, gun deaths have increased, including over 400 mass shootings (Mass Shooting Tracker; Business Insider; Gun Violence Archive). There has also been an increase in officer-involved shootings, particularly where persons of color are concerned.

Recently, while most of the United States was exchanging valentines, chocolate hearts and flowers, 17 children breathed their last breath at Stoneman Douglas High School. When the brave survivors of this mass shooting decided to step forward and say enough is enough, they were attacked by the NRA, NRA supporters, Laura Ingraham and others. False propaganda began to be circulated about these brave children and other March for our Lives supporters, including a photo-shopped image of Emma Gonzalez ripping up the Constitution when in fact she was ripping up a target. Is this what America has become? We are actually attacking the victims of a horrific tragedy?

I support the right of responsible, mentally fit and informed individuals to own guns. I do not support the right of irresponsible, mentally ill and untrained individuals to own guns. Let me explain what I mean by responsible, mentally fit and informed. A responsible gun owner should keep their gun(s) secure from their children, their children’s friends, or other persons, preferably locked up. A mentally fit gun owner will not have a history of severe mental illness that can create a potentially hazardous situation should they be armed with a weapon. An informed or trained gun owner will actually know how to safely use and clean their weapons. We need to reinstate the gun regulations that call for stricter background checks for criminals and mentally ill persons. I realize that these people can still get their hands on black market weapons, but at least they will not be legally handed a gun with which to commit mass murders as easily.

Victims do not deserve to be villainized for standing up for their right to live. Our children have a right to feel safe at school and not wonder every day if some nut is going to shoot up their school. Parents have a right to drop their kids off at school each day and expect that they will see them again at the dinner table. We all have a right to go to school, to the movies, to a concert, or to any other place without having that be the last event we attend due to a nut with a gun. And while this entry has been mostly about the issue of mass shootings and the right of children to live, I wish to add that police and civilian violence toward persons of color also needs to stop. Many of the worst perpetrators of violence toward persons of color and/or antagonism toward March for our Lives supporters have been those who claim to be pro-life. How can you be pro-life and yet not believe that all persons have a right to live? Stop making it so easy for the mentally ill to purchase guns. Stop making it so easy for your children to get their hands on your guns. Stop villainizing victims. Be a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem.

Poor Treatment of Veterans

Poor Treatment of Veterans

Last week, I wrote about Time Management and the sense of responsibility that people should feel when they are expected to do something or be somewhere at a certain time. I could very well write a whole other blog entry about responsibility, especially after this past week, but instead I am going to continue discussing the matter of my father’s caretakers. Last week, Home Instead took three hours to replace Saturday’s caretaker. Meanwhile, because I had promised my son that I would take him to see Black Panther, my daughter Lauren had to watch him for those three hours and she does not feel the same sense of duty to actually take care of him that caretakers do. This week, they sent a brand new, young, inexperienced caretaker.

I am not sure what happened to his regular Saturday caretaker whom he has had for a very long time, but now he is yet again faced with having a new caretaker and I am once again faced with having to train a new caretaker. If places like Home Instead cared about their clients, they would not put them through this frustration. Yet, here we are. I have to explain to yet another person how particular and difficult my father is and that even though she considers his water cup to be full, to fill it anyway without arguing with him that it is already full. This was his chief complaint to everyone who stepped foot in the house from that moment forward. Places like Home Instead give preferential treatment to customers who are paying out of pocket for their services. Veterans like my father, whose services are largely paid by the Veteran’s Administration, are treated like second-class consumers, almost like the difference between flying first class and flying coach. In my opinion, they should be treated the same, not different.

A few years ago, my father was hospitalized at the VA Hospital before being moved to another facility to rehabilitate. I noticed several things about this VA Hospital. First, the parking sucks. There is inadequate parking available for the number of visitors who come to this hospital. There is inadequate handicapped parking considering that this is a hospital which services veterans, who might likely also be disabled. There are stairs, curbs, hills and uneven ground leading up to the hospital which make it difficult for disabled and elderly patrons and visitors to navigate. On one occasion, my mother (now deceased) fell and got hurt trying to get back to my car after visiting her husband. They are severely understaffed, which means that visitors like myself who are lost and don’t know where to go can’t find anyone to help them and persons who are in the hospital often have long waits before their needs are met. The bathroom was disgusting. Veterans should not be treated like this when they need help.

Several years ago, I worked as a volunteer for a non-profit organization which helped veterans, disabled and elderly people. It was then that I began to see the ways in which veterans, disabled, and elderly persons are mistreated and often taken advantage of. Not much has changed. I still see multiple ways in which society as a whole, and individual business could improve the way in which they serve customers who are elderly or disabled. For example, the Bank of America branch that my father frequents has its handicapped entrance on the other side of the bank from where the parking lot is. Meanwhile, the entrance nearest the parking lot has stairs leading into the bank. On what planet does this even make sense? Why should someone have to travel that distance just to enter the bank?

We need to do better. Veterans served in our military. They fought for our country and for the freedom of people they have never even met. They sacrificed time with their families in order to fight for our country and some of them made the ultimate sacrifice. They sacrificed their sanity and their well-being to serve. We may not always agree with what they are fighting for, or who they are fighting against, but we have to keep a few things in mind about them nonetheless. I too am a conscientious objector. I don’t like that war is sometimes a necessary evil. However, it is exactly that sometimes; a necessary evil. Some of these veterans fought in wars that were truly part of our American history and without their contribution, we would not have the freedoms we have today. Others served because they believed it was the right thing to do. Perhaps their parents or families have served and they wanted to be part of that tradition. Perhaps they were trying to get money for school. Perhaps they were just trying to figure out their place in the world. It is really not up to us to determine the morality or ethics of their choice. Their choice cost them time with their friends and family. Sometimes their choice costs them their health and sanity. Other times, it costs them their lives. Veterans exhibit bravery and with the exception of a few, honor. They deserve some respect, not verbal tirades from misinformed and opinionated teachers who feel that the belittling of a student is above the education of that same student. They deserve respect, not impossible red tape, diminished benefits, and terrible treatment by VA hospitals and caretaker agencies. They deserve better.