HERE WE GO AGAIN

Here we are again with “thoughts and prayers, paranoia about losing the 2nd amendment and more innocent people murdered because we refuse to do anything in this Country about gun violence. Does anything even matter anymore to people when it comes to gun violence?

 

The latest incident was when suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa shot and killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado grocery store Monday, March 22, 2021, when he walked in around 2:30 p.m. and began shooting, according to law enforcement. "He was taken into custody about an hour later with a gunshot wound in his leg. " And if I may say so, it looked like he was going through a stroll in the park, the way police offers casually walked him across the parking lot, with the media speculating that he may have just been a victim and arrested as a precaution.  Seriously?  And also I'd like to add that there is a race problem in this country, especially when it comes to gun violence but that would be a whole other article.

Back to the topic at hand...Do you know how ignorant we look to the rest of the “civilized“ world every time we have a mass shooting in the United States!? It is absolutely shameful that this Country’s obsession with assault weapons and guns, apparently outweighs our need for safety!  

 

If you don't see a pattern here, (see image below) then we have nothing further to discuss. 

 

(Image source: Twitter/Adam Best)

 

 

Half of the battle is in trying to have an open dialogue regarding this gun violence issue. Recently, my husband was on a panel at a local television interview (relating to this issue) and there were two other guests on the show, who were proponents of gun ownership, as well as a gun expert on the panel.  The entire interview was steered in the direction of dissecting the differences between automatic weapon and semi-automatic weapons, and the legalities of the 2nd amendment, completely missing the point of the problem we have in this Country.  No one (at least not myself, my family nor people I have spoken to on this topic) want to take away gun rights.  The 2nd amendment states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.  Basically, it states that the people have "the right to bear arms."  However, with that being said, we must also remember that assault weapons were not taken into consideration back then, when they said "right to bear arms," nor did they have the bump stocks and powerful amounts of ammunition that are so readily available today to any civilian.

 

We can banter about semantics all day and argue about different types of weapons but the point that NEEDS to be addressed, is that there IS a problem with gun violence and we keep sweeping it away with useless thoughts and prayers."  Those thoughts and prayers are too little too late for the victims. 

I was there the day that March for Our Lives, co-founder, Cameron Kasky (then a high school junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas,) asked Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, if he would reject money from the N.R.A. (Nation Rifle Association.)  He could not answer the question directly, but the roundabout answer was the N.R.A. buys into his agenda.

 

 

 

 

Basically, the NRA "owns" a lot of the politicians in office. Politicians, that we the citizens, keep in power, even though they appear to have some kind of sick symbiotic relationship with each other (politicians and the N.R.A. that is.)  Sure, there are other forms of lobbying that go on in Washington (D.C.) but right now this is one of the most dangerous ones!  The results speak for themselves. 

For example, "Nearly three years before a gunman walked into a crowded supermarket in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with an AR-15 style weapon and killed 10 people, the city of Boulder, Colorado, voted to ban assault weapons...But just 10 days before the March 22nd rampage, the measure was blocked in court after a lawsuit backed by the National Rifle Association. The ruling came under a Colorado law that bars local officials from making their own gun laws."

 

How in the world can you deny the correlation?  And at the federal level, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that “we have to act” to pass reform legislation and Democrats said they are pushing toward a vote on expanded background checks, but it faces a difficult road in the Senate. Congress has not passed any major gun control laws since the mid-1990s, leaving most significant gun legislation in states’ hands. 

 

We have to come together NATIONALLY and try to agree upon gun reform that makes sense to try to keep us ALL safe.

There are so many things we can TRY to do to help prevent mass shootings in this Country. Instead, we watch as innocent people die, we send thoughts and prayers and nothing changes, all because gun-obsessed individuals stuck in the mindset that they need their guns to protect themselves from the government or some apocalypse or something catastrophic that they fear may happen. It has transcended from a “right to bear arms” into I must go around owning the most powerful weapons I can because I am fearful.”  I understand the right to bear arms and protect yourself and your family, I really do!  Recently, in that television interview I mentioned earlier, they asked my husband if he had a weapon at the time of the shooting at our daughter's school, would he have used it?  I can say that if I had been there with a weapon, in a position to defend my first born child and other people, I damn well would have done what I had to protect them. I don't disagree with gun ownership - with that being said (hypothetically, of course,) I would be a legal gun owner (which, for the record, I do not own any weapons,) I would have hypothetically passed a background check and I sure as hell would not have purchased a weapon in the back alleys of some random street!  

 

My point is that yes, everyone wants and feels the need to defend themselves but I also think there is a huge difference between the right to bear arms and the ease with which weapons are readily available, as well as the type of arms in question. There has to be rules and regulations in place when it comes to gun ownership. At this time there are too many loopholes and way too much money involved with the N.R.A.

How is an assault weapon in the hands of civilians anything remotely productive? There are pictures on the internet of grown men at grocery stores toting assault weapons, strapped on their backs.  The only thing I see when I look at images like this is that we are on our way back to the days of the “wild, Wild West,” only this time, on steroids. 

 

 

How can you look at the picture above and be okay with living like that? Surrounded by weapon-toting citizens, who may or may not have passed a background check or are perhaps mentally unstable? How does this remotely make you feel comfortable?  We can argue statistics, semantics, technicalities etc...but the truth is, we have a gun-obsession problem in this Country compounded with mental health issues, among many other problems!

It is truly shameful that high school students had to lead this Country into a “March for Our Lives” because adults failed at protecting them! They deserve all the respect and credit for being so young and brave and wanting to make change. However, they are still kids and it is OUR job as adults to protect our children, our families and our future!

We can try to make changes without infringing on the 2nd amendment. Why can’t people from opposing points of view have these civilized discussions? I can completely understand the right to bear arms and the need to protect your family but how far will we go with this?

Why does any civilian need an "assault" weapon that is used in war and tactical exercises?  I know there are hundreds of other things that are detrimental to our health and our society but right now, the topic at hand is gun violence and gun reform.

When the 2nd amendment was established, I am sure AR-15s (and similar weapons) in the hands of civilians, was not taken into consideration.

So I ask, What is so wrong with universal background checks? What is wrong with restrictions on weapons of war? What is wrong with restricting mentally unfit citizens with owning weapons? Why does your gun-toting obsession outweigh my need and my children’s need for safety?

Sure, we can argue statistics about how only a small percentage of people die in mass shootings, but why should any die at all? When people started dying at the hands of drunk drivers, we tightened up the rules there and tried to do something about it. When people died because of tainted Tylenol, we did something about it. When the “shoe bomber” boarded an airplane, we did something about it! Damn, we still have to take off our damn shoes to get on an airplane!

Do we not have rules, restrictions and regulations for other things in our lives? Why is this any different?

I will tell you why! Money and the NRA! It always come down to business and making money for the lobbyists and gun manufacturers in this Country, especially when it comes to this issue.

Sadly, we keep talking about this, writing about this, having interviews about it but the sad reality is, that if nothing changed after Sandy Hook, where innocent little kids were massacred, nothing will move the needle. That is the discouraging conclusion I come to each and every time there is a different mass shooting.

We currently live in a society where people are obsessed with being right no matter what. We live in a Country that still thinks it is the “greatest nation on Earth,” when we are far from it. (You can disagree with your government and some of its laws and still love your Country by the way.)  It is not unpatriotic to want to fight for innocent lives and speak up for those who no longer can.

Gun reform may not solve all the problems of our gun violence epidemic right away, but it should not be easier for someone to buy an automatic weapon, than it is to get a drivers license or to vote! Sometimes, girl's clothing in school is more regulated than guns in America! And that is just not right!

I will keep writing and lobbying for gun reform as long as I can. I am forever grateful that our daughter survived a school shooting but it should have never happened. Period.

In the words of my husband, who addressed Marco Rubio and Rick Scott on TV, the day after the Parkland massacre, “Do Something!”

 

I also read something on the March for Our Lives Instagram page right after the Boulder, Colorado mass shooting and it said, "We deserve a Country free of gun violence."  And I couldn't agree more.

Do you agree? 

 

 

IS ANGER THE REAL ISSUE?

Mass Shootings, school shootings, serial bombers, you name the tragedy and it is almost always someone who was upset and decided to take their revenge out on the innocent. You can turn on the news at any given time, on any given day, in the United States and these are the topics headlining the news. Guns, bombs, knives, vehicles...the weapon of choice is there; however, I believe we have a huge problem in this Country and it stems from unhappy, angry people (which for some reason, tends to be mostly white, angry males.) 

 IS ANGER THE REAL UNDERLYING ISSUE?  

We have to not only address the issues of gun violence in our Country and better security in our public places (especially schools,) but we have to address the underlying component, which in my opinion, tends to be angry, disgruntled males, who are more prone to commit these heinous crimes, that we are unfortunately seeing in our country more and more each day! Whether they use assault weapons or home-made bombs or vehicles to plow people down, there are some common denominators and one of the big ones is ANGER. Anger is one letter short of danger.   

Statistics show the number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and February 2018, by race and ethnicity of the shooter(s) between 1982 and February 2018, are 56 out of 97 mass shootings were initiated by White shooters. The Las Vegas strip massacre in 2017 had the highest number of victims between 1982 and 2018, with 58 people killed, and over 500 injured, also at the hands of a white male.  (Source: www.statista.com)

My 15-year old daughter survived the mass shooting on February 14, 2018 at her high school in Parkland, FL, a crime also committed by an angry white male. She was on the 3rd floor in the 1200 building that day, as the shooter came eerily close to her classroom. The reports and history of this particular perpetrator indicate he had many life-altering moments that gradually affected him and his anger towards others (his own mother, other students and neighbors,) was evident. Sadly, no one really took action to prevent the unfortunate outcome.

We can argue about crime statistics, we can point fingers at black and white, Hispanic, non Hispanic etc...but this article is mainly about the anger - the disgruntled feeling that bubbles over in the mind and soul of these individuals, that percolates to the point of literally blowing up (themselves or others.)

I cannot even begin to tell you the reasons why these people act out in such horrific ways. I mean, I can speculate: lack of love, lack of empathy, lack of self-worth? Perhaps they were bullied and had enough? Who knows? I leave that up to the psychologist, psychiatrists and those who want to analyze such things.  

What I do know, is that as a mother, as a parent of 2 young kids, step mom to three and "nana" to three little ones, my goal is to teach children what I can to make them better human beings and in turn, hopefully, my own children, will eventually raise decent human beings as well!   We have to give our children roots, a strong foundation, in which they can eventually use to fly into the world equipped to handle whatever they have to face.

MINDFULNESS MATTERS

Tragedy can strike anywhere as we know all too well.  It happens in our schools. It can happen in a church, in a movie theater, it can even happen on a soccer or baseball field.  The truth is, in today's world, we are not safe anywhere if you really start to think about it.

However, we cannot cower in fear and hide. Instead, I believe that we must demand change. We must take action.  We have to get to the root of the problem(s.) We must empower our children, (the youth of today and the grandchildren of tomorrow) to be strong in their convictions and know that they are loved and capable of great things, no matter what background, race or socio-economic demographic, they come from.

We have to teach our children from the time they are born that they ARE loved. (My thoughts are, if someone is not emotionally equipped to love a child unconditionally, they should not have one!) We have to teach them to love and show them compassion! Teach them tolerance and empathy by example. My father always told me, "todo los poquitos cuentan," meaning, "every little bit counts."  They add up. All the things we teach and show our children from the time they are young, they count. They are the building blocks to make strong decent human beings. I am not talking about raising doctors, lawyers, engineers etc...I am talking about raising loving, compassionate, empathetic human beings. All those little things we teach, they matter.

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. - Neil Postman

Additionally, we must get rid of the taboo that comes with talking about mental health issues. As mentioned before, the majority of mass shootings are committed by white males.  We have to dissect the issues affecting these white males. We have to address the issues affecting our young boys, our youth in general.  We teach our kids from the time they are young, "big boys don't cry," and "girls are made up of sugar and spice and everything nice."  We need to focus on kids, on people as individuals, not just give them labels.  We are so indoctrinated in schools to follow the rules, to do well on standardized testing but no one teaches life skills - not the majority of public schools anyway.  Sure, there are always exceptions, but my point is that we have to start focusing on a person's emotional well-being as much as we focus on their academic and/or work performance. We have to also teach our children how to manage their anger in a healthy way.

We have a much bigger problem with society that is not being addressed as it should. For example, the bullying problem among children is this country is rampant. (And even with some well-known adults.) We have to recognize when a child has a problem or is the problem, and we have to address it - not let he/she fall through the cracks of a broken system. Obviously, when a child has already become a major problem (ie: juvenile delinquent) all the love and talking in the world may not make a difference, however, that individual still needs help, still needs counseling, still needs rehabilitation, if possible.

If you are part of the "system" then it is your obligation to do your job right and do it with passion and genuine care, otherwise, get out of the way and let someone who is willing to do the job, do it, without "passing the buck!"  We have all kinds of systems that fail our children and we must work together to fix that. We must demand change.

On a positive note, I must recognize that there are many good schools and good systems in place that do everything they can to protect our children, however it is those that fall through the cracks that can become a major problem in our society down the line.

The issue of anger and being "disgruntled" at someone (or something) has undoubtedly played a huge role in most mass shootings.   We can march endlessly, we can secure our schools, we can vote politicians out that we don't like, but at the end of the day, we must get to the underlying root of the problem. 

Sure,there will always be troubled people in the world but if you are a parent, a guardian, or a relative of a child, the very least we can do is teach by example and do our best to raise a generation of loving, decent human beings and help those with "issues," to find their way to get help.

"Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath." ~ Eckhart Tolle

No parent is perfect, no child is perfect.  There will always be problems.  There will, unfortunately, always be tragedy in the world, but as individuals, we must do what we can to make a positive difference in our own "bubbles. I have said it before, "We are puzzle makers in this jigsaw of life and we have to put all of our pieces together, to make it work." 

I still believe wholeheartedly, that we must continue to fight for gun reform now, but that we must simultaneously begin to address mental health issues and mindfulness. We must teach our children to teach their children and so on, to be BETTER HUMAN BEINGS! 

Our children's future depends on it!

Lissette Rozenblat

MommyWarriorLady.com

LissetteRo@gmail.com

(Source:  Gun Violence Archive)