Sick and Tired of Thoughts and Prayers.

When I decided to continue this blog, I mentioned that  I would be writing on current event issues, especially those involving human rights. I consider this such an issue. Also note that I am sick as a dog  today. So feel free to take me to task on the issues but do note that I expect more than one typo exists below.

I live in Littleton. But I live in one of those places where three towns are in a half block of my house, one of those being Highlands Ranch. Last Tuesday, I had stayed home from both my balance class and my ladies lunch bunch. I wasn't ill as  in in bed ill, but I had no wish to share runny nose, the inability to swallow and a generic cough with the general population. So I sat reading and knitting and happy to be at home (another post for another time).

At a little before two, my son came home for his midday break to eat and walk the dog. Being an always on the phone and checking social media and the news kind of guy, he jumped up, yelled, and told me there was an active shooter down the road. Down the road as in right next to where my gals where lunching.  What I watched, just a couple miles of me (not for the first time this year.) was horrendous.

Yesterday, and today, while there is much on the news about the shooters, and about the school, there is much about the young man who died. There were also two articles about young people saving the day. A school senior should not HAVE to save the day, to rescue his classmates or anything else!!  Is it heroic that he did so? Absolutely. Should this become the standard, here or else where, that someone becomes a hero by standing in front of a gun or rushing a person with a gun? I don't think so. His parents wish that he had run away. He should have had to do neither.

Make no mistake here people. This chid, the children killed at other schools and those killed at places of worship were killed by guns. The GUNS killed the people. Did other people handle said guns? Yes. But had those other people been armed with pipes, fists or even knives, the results would have been drastically different.  It was the GUNS that caused the deaths. To tell ourselves anything else is idiocy.

To reiterate, I am not anti gun. I am a veteran, the wife of a veteran, the relative of veterans. I have, in fact shot an AR15-more than once. My adult son regularly goes target shooting. In the controversy over having a gun shop with an inside shooting range in our neighborhood, I was in the pro column. My sister and brother in law (another former veteran) have guns and shoot. More than once I have been the beneficiary of a quarter of an elk (although one friend is a bow hunter and does not use guns). The list could go on. In other words, I am not opposed to law abiding citizens who have training and know how to use them responsibly having weapons. There, I said it.

However, the current all or nothing situation involving some conservatives and the gun lobby is not sustainable in the future.  The inability of some gun owners and the NRA to seek any middle ground on any topic is unforgivable. From what I can see the decision has been made that guns are more important than children's lives. Shootings  in schools have become so much the norm that today on CNN there is no longer a headline about it that I can see.  Note:  I understand that there are underlying psychology and school security issues that need to be addressed, and I am in favor of that as well. But let's get rid of the weapons first and move onward.

I am a firm believer that you cannot be in the middle on this. People who are silent, and people who abstain are almost always on the wrong side of history and morality, and often regret it after. Starting with all the folks who refused to vote in the last election and going back to the Nazis and even further.

I cannot tell you what to do. I can say that prayers and thoughts are not enough-and I say that as a devout person. God expects us to act. To paraphrase what my church newsletter said, as well as the recently late author Rachel Held Evans said, it's time to embrace discomfort, among friends, neighbors, in talking with politicians, in talking with young people.

We all need to act differently and I am still working on how I will do that, but I do know what I personally believes needs to change. So here are the things I will be discussing loudly, with friends, acquaintances and yes, my local representatives.

• Parents should be required to store all weapons in such a way that children cannot find them. A great majority of school killings were committee with weapons taken from home including one in my immediate area a couple years ago when a 14 year old opened dads unlocked gun cabinet and took out a hunting rifle and took it to school and shot a young woman in the head.
• No one needs an AR15. If this offends you, too bad. I've shot one. The sole purpose of an AR 15 is to shoot a bunch of people dead as fast as possible. Other than the military I cannot imagine a need for such a weapon. It is not meant for "target shooting".
• If minor is not in the military, he or she does not need a gun. Take your kid out and supervise him or her when he or she shoots with you. The go home and lock up the gun, or lock up the gun at the range.
• Owning a gun may be considered a right by some people. I would suggest that if we have to take a class and a test and have those reviewed every few years. 
• Some would suggest a slippery slope with this, and I don't necessarily disagree. I am not in favor of labeling the mentally ill as a group. But there should be a way for psychologist and doctors to have some input when it comes to patients that they know are dangerous. More specifically, if you have been charged with spousal or child abuse, you should not be able to get a gun. If you have been convicted of a violent crime you should not be able to get a gun. 
• No one NEEDS a gun the same day.

It's time to do one thing or the other. You can be in the group that wants the current status quo when it comes to guns, or you can be in the group that cares about the lives of young people, church goers and others. I'm sorry if this offends you, but you cannot do both. You cannot.

Where do you stand.

As always, please note that any comment is welcome, if you sign your name, if you are polite and if you realize that I may comment to your comment and may still disagree!