I am angry with myself.
Yesterday I was hurting over yet another senseless shooting. I hurt for the families of the dead, for those who were injured, and for the responders, some of whom will suffer trauma at what they have witnessed.
Then they released the numbers and I was floored. I simply could not wrap my head around how someone would shoot over 100 people, killing half of them, in that short amount of time.
But thanks to the miracle of social media, I didn’t have to think about it for long. I could join in with the arguing about who is to blame. From Texas’ Lt. Governor Patrick’s tweet blaming the victims for their lifestyle, to Ronnie Dunn’s public rebuke of our president for daring to mention guns as a contributing factor, there was no lack of voices out there spreading their noise pollution.
And of course there was the argument over whether this was a hate crime against the LGBT community or international terrorism. The shooter was Muslim. But then his ex-wife told us he was bipolar and using steroids! So, which is it?
Suddenly I was no longer hurt. I was mad. Let’s argue about this!
But then I read an article on the AP app that quoted Sandy Phillips, mother of a victim of the Aurora mass murder in 2012. When asked why this keeps happening, her response was, “because we allow it.”
Yeah, that’s me. I allow it.
I have decided it’s time to respond differently. I have resolved to hold accountable my elected officials and challenge them to do SOMETHING to stop one more person from being gunned down while out living life. Not one more mother should have to wonder all day about her son after he texts her while hiding in a bathroom. Not one more law enforcement officer, medical professional or other first responder should have to suffer the trauma that comes from having to respond to the call of an active shooter.
Not one more person should be allowed to kill others because life didn’t go the way he (or she) wanted it to.
And not one more person who lives through such a tragedy should be marginalized because I’m too busy arguing about my agenda to be there for them.
I’m sorry.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
I was shocked and cried as I saw the news… and then I nearly exploded that some id*ots really wrote ” no worries he killed just gays”…. it gives me the shivers that people think this way … that is past all belief :O(((
And yet people do feel that way. It’s really sad and frustrating that we are our own worst enemy.
yes… and I feel fear that people with such minds live around me…. thzey smile and greet me but have just hate in her minds :O(
I do too. 😞
Amen
>
😞
I agree.
Thanks for the reblog.
No problem and I would again in a heartbeat.
anytime
Reblogged this on redsoxlady35 and commented:
Let’s put an end to it.
I hate the blame game rather than looking for solutions. I hate that we need to have costly security everywhere rather than finding solutions.
Yes. We haven’t even begun to figure out how much this one massacre will cost. Money motivates when compassion does not.
The Antisocial media starts a tidal wave of vile rhetoric..only aimed at grabbing ‘hits’..keyboard warriors at the ready..looking for a chance to vent their anger..people turning on people..straights against gays..christians against muslims..gun owners against non gun owners..liberals against labors..and on and on it goes..meanwhile all that bile is spewed out and feeds the people who perpetrate these crimes..what a world..what a time..
Yes, in the end all that matters is money.
you are 100% right. In every other country where there is common sense acts liek this result in gun laws. Sadly I am afraid people will respond to this with fear and hat and elect that fool trump
Then they get what they deserve.
You’ve expressed how I feel. Thank you.
Thank you. Something must change. It must start with me.
I understand why this event would bring gun laws into question. Truly, I do. But this shooting is nothing more than the aftershock of something so much deeper. I don’t know where it comes from. And I don’t know when it arrived. I don’t even know what ‘it’ is. But if my take on these social media posts is accurate, ‘it’ can be found in embryonic form at the most innocuous of levels. Witness two recent posts on the local buy/sell FB page. The first post was looking for suggestions on how to get rid of the crows who perch on the utility line above where this guy parks his cars. Without exception, all who responded recommended either a shot gun or poisoned bait. The second post was also looking for help. The coyotes were picking off the family chickens. 90% of the responses were tips on luring the coyotes to a designated kill site. I had a bittersweet laugh over this. “Find another place to park,” and, “House your chickens,” were suggestions that never made it to print. My point? There is a young, subterranean rage out there that needs feeding and it thrives on any approval it can flush out of the faceless. I really believe that had I stepped into the mess and pointed out the stupidity and expense of poisoning crows and baiting coyotes, maybe other people would have done the same. In short, if I’d responded to these posts, I could have asked both of these individuals what they were REALLY after since the solutions they chose would not–COULD not–solve their problem. I could have asked them why a threat to their physical well-being was no longer the criteria for the taking of life–why something that merely annoys or offends warrants extermination. So I’m still not sure what ‘it’ is. I mean, how do you ‘hate’ a crow? a coyote? All the gun laws in the world can’t stop ‘it’ at the level at which I see it in its most inchoate and insidious form. It is chronic. I really believe that ‘it’ at this phase is simply another shooting in the making. And while I cannot cut off its food source, it is well within my power to show my face and taint the food supply. Just a thought.
It is this idea that the only thing that matters is ourselves. I understand. Sadly that is a problem that will likely be solved by extinction.
Excellent post. The politicians refuse to pass any restricting gun ownership. We’ve had a few mass shootings – Sandy Hook with 20 children; San Bernardino – nothing was done. They wait until the media coverage dies down and things go along as usual. The petitions fall on blind eyes. Money trumps all. They want campaign funds from pro-gun groups.
The only that MAY produce action is if family are killed in one of the mass shootings. The congress reps in NY are in favor or gun control.
Of course those who agree with Trump who agains today advocated for more guns to be available. He said that if people had guns in Pulse they could have shot the gunman.
That’s ridiculous. There was an off-duty police officer working at the bar that was armed and did engage the shooter to no avail. A gun didn’t help.
On Twittwr a pro-gun nut asked why I was afraid of an automatic weapon. I replied I wasn’t afraid of the weapon; I was afraid of him. THAT shut him up.
Excellent comeback. Great post. Woof!
Don’t be sorry for expressing your deepest and most raw thoughts about the Orlando massacre, Jen. There seems to be no end in sight for such horror, especially here in the U.S. Mass shootings are a uniquely American attribute. I don’t trust our elected officials to do anything about such mayhem. I anticipated the usual rancor of political vomit as soon as I heard what happened. But yes, it happens because we as a society essentially allow it.
They are only in office because we put them- and keep them- there.
Well said. With social media and the Internet’s ability to make everything sensationalistic and glossed over. Until we absolutely hold accountable those responsible for these continuing reprehensible actions we merely condone them. This country has lots of things that need attention, not the least of which why do the majority of its people not do anything about that which offends and repulses them?
Agreed. It pisses me off that this crap keeps happening again and again. And that we are our own worst enemies.
Yes! We do allow it and until the gun laws are different/changed, it will keep happening. As a society that allows freedoms such as carrying firearms on such a large scale and that allows them so easy to obtain, it is like all of us living in a pressure cooker and it is only ‘when’ will be the next time it will explode. Thank you for taking the time to post this for as you say…it shouldn’t matter what the reason is but the fact that it continues.