Another Shooting (or Enough Is Enough)

As a girl, society has taught me to be scared of many things. Many of those things are about men. I’ve been taught to not walk alone at night because a man might rob, rape, or murder me. I’ve been taught to smile and say hello or thank you to a stranger who speaks to me so I don’t make them upset. I’ve been taught to wear a fake wedding ring if I want to prevent men from hitting on me. I’ve been taught not to outright turn a man down if I’m not interested because that can cause them to become violent. I’ve been taught that I should not give a man my address if we are dating until I can trust him because I don’t want him appearing at my home unannounced.

I know that not all men will do these things, but there are bad seeds that we have to worry about. And the good guys out there will do what they can to make sure that I’m not in those situations (walking me to my car or pretending to be my boyfriend to stop a guy from hitting on me).

But I never really had to be fearful of guns.

Until now.

Now I need to be careful when I go to a school because I might be shot. I need to be careful going to work because I might be shot. I need to be careful going to a medical facility because I might be shot. I need to be careful going into public places or near crowds because I might be shot. I need to be careful going into a foreign country because I might be shot.

I’m usually not taking a strong political stance on here, but serious this is getting ridiculous. There have been so many mass shootings lately. In fact there were multiple mass shootings yesterday but the others weren’t reported on because the one in San Bernardino was bigger.

There needs to be some sort of gun control policy set to help prevent these crimes. I’m aware that there isn’t a way to stop all mass shootings, but guns and bullets are far too easy for unstable people to get a hold of. I’m aware that there are thousands of responsible gun owners. They can keep their guns. In fact, many of my gun owning friends are in favor of more gun control and regulation. Why not require background checks and licenses? Is that so unreasonable?

The responsible gun owners are like the good guys who walk me to my car because I’m scared of being attacked. They understand why I (and others) are fearful and are willing to do what needs to be done to help prevent the fear. Why can’t more people see that? I don’t know a single person who is for gun control who wants guns to be banned or taken away from responsible gun owners.

I have a couple of friends who had a friend injured in the shooting yesterday. From what I understand, their friend is going to pull through. But the friends and families of the 14 people who were killed for no reason yesterday will not have that good news. They will be mourning the loss of someone who was killed because they happened to be at a holiday party at a building. That’s not a reason to die.

As much as I want to say that this act of violence will change things and that politicians will wake up and realize a difference needs to be made, I doubt that would happen. I was so sure that would happen after Sandy Hook. But instead of seeing the tragedy of children and their teacher being killed while in school, some politicians said that teachers need to be armed to prevent this. So I’m guessing that the response this time is that all employees should carry guns just in case someone will come into their workplace and shoot. Not prevent that person from coming into their workplace with a gun.

Sorry for the rambling post. I’m pissed and saddened that this is happening again. Hopefully one day, we will look back at this time and realize how stupid it was that it took so many mass shootings for the country to wake up. And I hope that realization will come within my lifetime.

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