Don't Shoot!

Every once in awhile, I decide to engage someone whose opinions differ from my own, in an effort to understand where they're coming from. I wrote this recently on a friend's Facebook post:

"Hi ***. I assume this [a post he shared] was written in response to recent protests? I feel like the conservative right MIGHT be misunderstanding the movement. Asking for tighter/better gun control is NOT asking to have ALL guns taken away from citizens. Why is it a bad thing to demand that crazy people, people with a documented history of violence, or people who aren’t even old enough to buy a beer have limited/no access to guns, especially those with high capacity magazines. Are gun lovers afraid that it’s a slippery slope towards loss of all gun ownership rights? And are they convinced that owning a gun will REALLY protect them if our government wanted to become a totalitarian regime? We wouldn’t stand a chance against it, even owning a few guns. So I’m really confused by the tenor of this article and others I’ve read that put down today’s youth. I am a high school teacher in a large public school. My students are good kids. Sometimes they get in trouble just like kids in our day did. They really aren’t all that different than we were. With one exception. In addition to earthquake and fire drills, we now have hostile intruder drills. So again I ask, why is it bad for them to demand that lawmakers do something?"

I wrote this in response to something my friend had shared in which the writer called kids today "a generation of narcissists who were chauffeured to school and received a trophy for showing up. They have learned 'activism' and not patriotism, they have learned 'resist' without learning about civil rights...You are NOT in danger, unless and until you disarm every law abiding, civil, peaceful patriot and lover of the constitution. Trampling the constitution will only subject you the horrors of an actual totalitarian regime. We've allowed leftists to raise our kids and this is what it has wrought." 

Further thoughts on that post: 

1. She is wrong. The statistics show that we ARE in danger. Not just at school, but at shopping malls, movie theatres, even airports where there are ARMED security officers. Deaths by mass shootings did not exist when I was a student the way they do today. People want to say it's because we don't have prayer in school, and kids don't respect their elders, blah, blah, blah. I was a student in the '80s. We did not have prayer in schools then. And kids disrespected their elders all over the place. Remember Pink Floyd? "We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. Hey, teachers, leave us kids alone!" BUT we didn't have rampant school shootings. The only thing I can conclude (without any solid evidence) is that there is a major proliferation of firearms today that didn't exist then, that it's easier now to get a semi-automatic than ever before. So people can act on their impulses in a deadly that they couldn't necessarily have done before.

2. Are activism and patriotism mutually exclusive? That makes no sense whatsoever. When we protest, we are exercising a constitutional right, and it does not in any way imply that we hate our country, but rather that we want to improve it. This makes me think of another time in our country's history when a particluar segment of the American population said "enough," and staged sit-ins and peaceful marches. They too were considered unpatriotic. They were also labelled as ungrateful niggers who didn't know their place! That's right, black people who just wanted the right to be treated as equals and have a voice in their nation were looked down upon, attacked and sometimes killed, for saying "enough!" I am grateful that they did NOT back down and shut up. And you, even if you are white, should be grateful too. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ushered in a new era not only for Black Americans but for women, people with disabilities, and other people of color. It continues to have a far-reaching impact today, even though we still have a long way to go.

3. I was raised by leftists with guns. (Is that even a thing? Apparently it is.) So before you call me a bleeding heart liberal who wants to abolish the Second Amendment, understand that I while I AM a liberal, I support your right to own a gun...Unless, you know, you are a TOTAL PYSCHOPATH! Or, let's say, a CHILD! And I do NOT support your right to high-capacity magazines that will turn your handgun or rifle into an assault weapon. Also, I am a Christian. Whoaaa! How is that possible? A liberal Christian? Yes, we exist. And I will say, I haven't found anything yet in the teachings of Jesus Christ that lead me to believe He would support your right to blow other people away. But that's another argument for another time.

Okay, I think I've got it out of my system. Here are some of my questions, reiterated/rephrased to invite intelligent discourse. No name-calling or other vitriol please.

1. Why is it a bad thing for kids to demand that lawmakers improve gun laws so that they don't have to be afraid in their classrooms?
2. How are today's protests different than the civil rights protests of the 1960s?
3. Should people with a documented history of mental illness or violence be allowed to own firearms?
4. Should civilians be allowed to own high-capacity magazines for their firearms?