#GunControlNow

Another 17 people died this week as victims of a senseless mass shooting. The attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida was the 30th mass shooting in the United States in 2018. Let that sink in; the Parkland massacre was the 30th time multiple people were shot in the first 45 days of the calendar year. What does that say about America? It says we are a nation that chooses to place common sense and special interest above the protection its citizens - and sadly again in this case, its children.

There should be no debate here. This country needs common sense gun control. Gun right people, just stop. The argument is invalid. The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution was written 200+ years ago when democracy was an experiment and muzzleloaders that shot a lead ball took more than a minute to reload. Today, the democracy experiment has proven viable and automatic weapons that can fire multiple hallow point bullets per second are a reality Jefferson never could have imagined. It makes no sense to apply 18th century logic to 21st century reality. We don't do that with medicine; leeches are no longer the treatment for tonsillitis. The logic around guns must also follow the times.

Gun owners, no one wants your hunting rifles. We want gun sense; obtaining a hunting license can be more difficult than buying the gun with which you plan to hunt. That bar needs to change. We are failing to keep society safe. Lack of common sense gun control has led to the loss of countless lives. How do we know? We know because gun control is the one thing we haven't tried to end the violence.

We are the only nation in the world that has a mass shooting epidemic. The U.S. makes up 5% of the world's population but is home to 31% of the world's mass shooters. The gun culture in the U.S. is driven by a false perception that guns offer protection against violent crime or a baseless paranoia that an armed population is the check and balance against government oppression. None of that is true.

Guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes. Firearm incidents where lethal force was used in self defense number in the low hundreds each year. Criminal homicides with a firearm number in the tens of thousands.

It's also time to call out the reprehensible behavior the gun industry and gun lobby promotes. Whether scare propaganda that comes from a coiffed source like NRA President Wayne LaPierre, or a raw conspiracy theorist like Alex Jones, the motive is the same. Money and power. The gun industry is an $8 billion enterprise. The NRA is more than a $350 million business. Jones has a net worth of $10 million. Neither the industry or the piles of human garbage that act as their mouthpiece give one iota about individual rights. They care about the money and power conscription of the stupid provides. Marshaling the masses to buy guns with propaganda claims of self defense or the impingement of rights keeps the gun economy booming.

The outcome of this conscription is infuriating and gets personal in every city and town. A man in my own area decided he needed to bring a sidearm to a school concert. I have pity for his monumental insecurity but the fact that he's a coward shouldn't entitle him to bring a gun everywhere he travels. It must be terrible to go through life so afraid. Ironically, today's school children may feel similar fear as a result of his brand of cowardice behavior. These not-men often declare guns aren't the problem, people are. That is partly true; people are to blame and it's precisely these gun zealots that represent the human component in that statement. The other truth remains that a weapon like an AR-15 has no place in the hands of a civilian.

In the wake of Parkland expect profiteering politicians to offer nothing more than thoughts and prayers to victims. Fact, the top 10 senators and house members receiving NRA contributions are all Republicans. That speaks volumes about the values of the GOP but guns are not a totally partisan issue as a lesser number of Democrats also take money from the gun lobby. These morally failed people are complicit in the killing of innocent Americans - American children. NRA blood money is their lifeline to retaining power. Active obstruction of common sense gun control keeps the cash from going to potential opponents. Their longevity in office comes at the cost of lives. Why do we accept this as status quo?

The fact is we won't have to accept it forever. Any child that feels unsafe in their school today will grow up to be a voter that will destroy the NRA and GOP. To forgive and forget the danger both groups have placed on today's kids will not be in the cards. Knowing there will be a day without the NRA or today's GOP fills me with joy but the fact these same children have to fear going to school in the here and now makes me seethe with literal hatred for the human garbage obstructing gun control legislative action today.

We've have failed our children. The choice now is whether to stand complicit while more of them die until they become old enough to enact the change they inevitably will, or do we find the strength to finally stand against the greed soaked, morally bankrupt special interests, lawmakers, and gun zealots obstructing that change today.

Read these names: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Scott Beigel, 35; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Aaron Feis, 37; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Christopher Hixon, 49; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Montalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alexander Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; Peter Wang, 15.

Now, read about their lives that were needlessly cut short.

Now, accept we need to take action by trying something new. Responsible gun control is now the imperative to try.

#GunControlNow