This Is What You Get
This isn’t going to be a nice post. And yes, I am going to swear a lot. So if reading adult words offends your sensibility, stop reading this. (Sorry, Mom)
I’m pissed off. There’s been yet another mass shooting, this time at an elementary school where 22 people (including the gunman) were killed. Children were massacred. Teachers were murdered. Yet again it was a man, armed with multiple guns he should never have access to. The cycle plays out again and again and again and again. There have been more mass shootings in America this year THAN DAYS! What the fuck are we doing? America is the only place in the world where this happens!
Do you know how many guns there are in this country right now? Roughly 393 million. That’s almost 400 million guns! Enough for each person to have one and then some. But that’s only a conservative estimate! It could be a lot more. It’s not like we keep track of them or anything. The fucked up part is that only about 35% of Americans own them. We are held hostage by a minority of people OBSESSED with guns. Children die because they will not give them up.
I’ve written many times about gun violence. I’ve mentioned possible solutions and laws we could enact. But at the end of the day, there is only one solution: get rid of the fucking guns. That’s it. It’s really that simple. But let’s talk about some of the nonsensical bullshit solutions Republicans have come up with.
Good Guy with a Gun
In two more recent shootings at Buffalo and in Texas, there were good guys with a gun. And guess what? They got shot to death in one case and in the other WAITED 40 FUCKING MINUTES BEFORE CONFRONTING THE SHOOTER. Spare me the bullshit about John McClane swinging in to save everyone. It doesn’t happen. And it doesn’t work. Children died a few days ago because the “good guys” were standing outside. Parents had to listen to their children being murdered while cops stood around trying to figure out what to do. Don’t take my word for it — ask them:
Arm Everyone
This one might be the most infuriating of all the dumbass solutions I’ve heard. If more guns made us safer then America would be the safest fucking place on Earth. Instead? It’s so so deadly. We know this because in countries that don’t have MORE GUNS THAN PEOPLE they don’t die like we do here. Jeez, I wonder if it’s the fucking guns, you idiots.
In a cruel irony, one of the fathers of the victims posted on social media mourning his daughter’s death. In the picture of her he posted, he’s wearing a shirt that says “Fuck Your Gun Free Zone”. How did that work out, Bucko? There was an armed guard at the school. In fact, there were three police officers at the scene BEFORE the gunman entered the school. What good did that do? Here’s a wild idea: make EVERYWHERE a gun-free zone!
You might think it’s wrong of me to confront one of the victim’s parents. Too fucking bad. I’m tired of these idiots not being confronted. I work in a school. I am glad there aren’t guns here. Speaking of…
Arm the Teachers
Have you MET a teacher? Do you really want a bunch of overworked, underpaid public servants to be armed? I sure as shit don’t. It’s enough they have to babysit your terrible children, now they have to pretend to be cops too? (And no, not all kids are terrible. Most of them are pretty great, actually. I love 99% of the kids I interact with daily).
There are 3.6 million teachers in the US right now. That’s like five times the number of police officers. If we can’t even manage training the 700,000 cops we have, how the FUCK are we going to train 3.6 million people who have never used a gun or been in a combat situation before, you stupid fucks? All these shitheads live in a delusional fantasy where anyone can become a fucking hero with the bat of an eye. You’re fucking INSANE if you think teachers can handle taking down mass shooters.
And another thing, TEACHERS DON’T WANT TO BE ARMED! They don’t want to have to kill someone who could have been a former student of theirs. What kind of glue are you sniffing that makes you think any of us who work in education want THIS DERANGED IDEA to be the solution we try. Are you fucking mental? None of us want to live in a world where part of teacher certification includes marksmanship and gun safety courses, you twats. STOP SUGGESTING THIS AS A SOLUTION — IT FUCKING ISN’T.
Now’s Not the Time
If one more person lectures me about how the aftermath of a butchering isn’t the time to talk about gun violence and banning guns, I will fucking lose my mind. Is the plan to have so many back-to-back shootings that NEVER is the time? Fuck that. We need to talk about this. NOW.
Kudos to Beto O’Rourke (who I have never really been a fan of) for confronting the Republican assholes who sit around with their thumbs up their asses shrugging their shoulders. Here’s a video of him doing so in case you missed it:
Did you happen to catch these assholes saying not to politicize the tragedy? WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING THEN? ARE THEY ANNOUNCING NEW SOLUTIONS? ARE THEY DOING ANYTHING CONSTRUCTIVE OTHER THAN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A BAD SITUATION TO GET IN FRONT OF A CAMERA? Fuck and no. They are using dead children for a photo op. At least Beto is trying to bring to light the utter hypocrisy of these assclowns. And of course, because no one can handle the truth, they booted him from the conference so the white men can get back to doing abso-fucking-lutely nothing.
All of this brings me to my main point, which is, that as long as you keep voting for Republicans, this is what you get. You get dead children, dead parents, dead brothers and sisters, and dead grandmas. There has been a bill waiting for TWO FUCKING YEARS in the Senate for a vote that would implement the most basic of restrictions on guns. It’s basically nothing and 90% of Americans support it. But fuck us, the GOP won’t even BRING IT TO A VOTE! Hell, a fucking basketball coach understands this:
If you love Republicans so much, Texas, then this is what you get. Every Trump voter has blood on their hands. Every GOP supporter has blood on their hands. Keep voting for these shitbergs and mass shootings will continue again and again and again. Is it fair to the victims of shootings? Fuck no, it’s not. But too bad. Reality doesn’t care about that and the reality is that one party in this country wants this to keep happening because 400 million guns isn’t fucking enough. It’s disgusting and you should all be ashamed of yourselves. But hey, this is America.
This is what you get.