Today's Trigger: There's Nothing Fun About A Gun

Did you know the United States has more deaths from gun related incidents than any other nation?  Did you know more than 32,000 people per year are killed by guns in our country?  Did you know according to an article written by Adrienne LaFrance for The Atlantic and republished in Forbes, more people now die by guns than by cars?  Ummm, that’s an alarmingly fucked up fact dontcha think?  I don’t know about you but I’m having an awful lot of trouble wrapping my unpolished brain around the gun violence problem in America.

Gone are the days we can tell ourselves “oh it won’t happen in my neighborhood” or “that only exists in other parts of the nation.”  Sadly, it can and it does.  No longer can we send our most prized possessions; our beautiful babies; our innocent children off to school without fearing for their lives.

Last night I listened in on a conference call held by Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America.

‘Moms Demand Action was founded by stay-at-home mom Shannon Watts on December 15, 2012, in response to the devastating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The organization quickly flourished into a leading force for gun violence prevention, with chapters in all 50 states and a powerful grassroots network of moms that has successfully effected change at the local, state and national level. In December 2013, Moms Demand Action partnered with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to unite a nationwide movement of millions of Americans working together to change the game and end the epidemic of gun violence that affects every community.’ 

Currently, there are over three million Moms Demand Action members who are committed to helping prevent gun violence. Though it is the Moms at the heart of this organization, anyone is welcome and everyone is encouraged to help spread the message to congressional committees, government legislators and lawmakers on local, state and federal levels.

We must crack DOWN and not give UP!

Privately selling a gun to an individual without a background check is unacceptable.  The “loophole” relative to the three day hold when purchasing a firearm is unacceptable.  Only asking questions at the sellers discretion about the person buying a weapon is unacceptable.  Not asking questions about the person buying a weapon is even more unacceptable.  Having little to no safeguards in place to protect the citizens of this country is unacceptable to the utmost unpolished degree.

Did you know in the state of Florida alone, two million kids are living in homes with unsecured guns?  Did you know that?  Did you? UNSECURED GUNS.  IN THEIR HOMES.  Locked and loaded ready to shoot; except technically that means the gun is UNLOCKED making it easier for any kid to mistakenly grab and accidentally fire.  That’s INSANE!  Do you know how many unintentional shootings there are as a result?  And do you know how many of those unintentional shootings end in death?  I will be damned before I let my kids play in a home where there are guns lying around UNSECURED.

‘Moms Demand Action launched a Be SMART Campaign, created to unify responsible adults to reduce the number of unintentional shootings that occur when children get a hold of unsecured firearms.’

In my unpolished opinion I think it would be smarter and more responsible to NOT HAVE A GUN AT ALL.  What do you think?  Would you allow your child to play in someone else’s home knowing there was a gun in the house?  Have you even asked other parents if they own a gun?  And if so, why do they own it?  Where is it?  What safety precautions have they taken?  Should you be told upfront?  Don’t you want to know?  Shouldn’t you know?

GOING FORWARD….

We need to keep this conversation going.  We need to keep the dialogue active.  We must talk about what we can do locally as a community and collectively as a country to put an end to the violence.  Our voices must be heard so action can be taken.  If our voices are heard and action is taken maybe we can feel a tad safer when we walk out our front door; maybe we can relax a bit more when we go to the movie theatre; and maybe we can breathe a little easier when we send our kids off to school in the morning.  Maybe. 

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW…. They don’t say “Mother Knows Best” for nothing!  I think we can all agree when a Mom demands action, action gets done!  I encourage you to check out Moms Demand Action today and start demanding action in an effort to help fight the violence associated with guns.