I tried to sit down and write a passionate piece laying out my thoughts on gun control, honestly, I did. But at this point, I just don’t even know what the point would be.
People much more articulate than me have written essays, have done the research, have looked into the success of better gun control in other countries. They’ve explained why the U.S needs to improve our gun laws, and questioned why we feel we need for assault rifles in the public at all. And none of it has done anything at all.
At this point, I’m really just not sure what anybody else can do. Because it seems like there’s enough people in this country who are just never going to get it. It’s 2015, we've been having this debate for quite some time. The “right to bear arms” (which I’ve seen advertised on too many T-shirts at gas stations) was invented during a time where guns had about the accuracy of a Nerf shooter. Fast forward a couple of centuries and look at where we are now; are you really going to trust the general public with those kinds of weapons?
But like I said, I’m not going to get into all the reasons that I oppose ‘gun rights.’ It’s all been said before, and none of it seems to help anything. If I wanted to shout at a wall, I'd go do just that.
The Sandy Hook tragedy took place three years ago this month. I remember hearing people say that this had to be a turning point in the gun control debate, because no one could continue to support something that had lead to the massacre of children. Even the most pro-gun populations would understand, they would concede to some necessary changes.
But it’s three years later, and in the past week I’ve watched the news report on the shooting at Planned Parenthood, then the one in San Bernardino. I’ve seen countless Facebook posts expressing sympathy, blogs questioning the same things I question every time I hear about these situations.
How is this still happening here?
I really don’t have an answer. I don’t think anyone does. I’m sad and angry and I wish I was still willing to argue about it. This is important and it needs to be dealt with, but I just can’t bring myself to discuss it anymore.
And even if I could, it wouldn’t make any difference at all. And that’s a really depressing thought for me.
