There have been 332 mass shootings in the USA alone this year. Twelve thousand eight hundred four suicides by guns, assuring no chance of recovery. So then we hear a cry of righteous indignation when Denmark has its first mass shooting incident since 2015, that gun laws don’t work.
They do work, but they have to be there to do what they do, keep us safe. I grew up surrounded by hunters. When I could hold a rifle, my father taught me how to use it safely. He stored them well out of my brother and sister’s reach and made us aware that guns, rifles, pistols, and shotguns were not toys.
We were trained to shoot in High School and how to do it safely. Target practice with a rifle or a bow and arrow had the same purpose, to teach weapons safety for ourselves and each other. I never owned any weapon, and I didn’t need to.
Right now, people believe that they have a right to have a weapon. Because of that belief, a weapon was purchased and used over 332 times.
We hear the platitudes of Thoughts and Prayers, which do not bring back the dead or heal the wounds; rather, isn’t it time to act for the conversion of those that harm themselves and others. Isn’t it time we look at how we allow an industry to be protected for killing its customers? Why do we assume an 18-year-old or any person outside the military has the right to a weapon of war? And don’t tell me or any of the dead that they are a part of a well-regulated militia. The keywords here are well regulated. Like a driver’s license, perhaps a license to own a gun. It is getting the required training on use and safety before possessing a firearm. Passing an exam and then obtaining authorization to buy a specific weapon, but not a weapon of war. Coupled with those requirements, a weapons locker that your children or visitor can not breach.
These steps would make us aware of what is expected of us, and perhaps, change our intention from harming 19 children in Texas or 49 party-goers in Orlando or Nine church members at prayer. Maybe, if those who would harm others were slowed down just a little, they would do no harm. Perhaps, being well-regulated is the key that would allow us to change our frightened world into a place of peace and healing.
For the conversion of..
