I recently learned about apoptosis, which is also called "cellular suicide." There are millions of cells in our bodies, and if one becomes infected by disease, or even if it's not needed, it can self-destruct in an orderly, programmed fashion.
Apoptosis pops into my head every time I see a mass shooting in the news. It's almost as if humans have some built-in mechanism where they are self-controlling their overpopulation.
The model is simple: The National Rifle Association (NRA) takes an exceptionally wide view of the Second Amendment, and promotes their agenda aggressively. Contrary to what you hear in the press, the power of the NRA is not their political contributions, mostly to Republicans, but rather it's their grassroots power. In the NRA world there is constant fear because that's what drives membership. People who own guns are usually scared people anyway, so it takes little to activate them emotionally and get them to call and write their Congress member.
Now, on the other half of the equation you have a United States of America that has gone totally batshit crazy. We are a nation of mentally ill individuals and it takes only a moderate amount of effort to match a crazy, deranged man with a semi-automatic rifle. And, there you have it — apoptosis.
Sandy Hook
I knew all hope was lost when an evil whacko walked into an elementary school in 2012 and murdered 20 children. Nothing could get more horrible than that. But rather than using the incident to promote common sense gun laws, and RATHER than expressing sympathy for the victims, all I heard was, "Obama is going to take our guns away." Predictably, Congress ended up doing NOTHING. At that point, I knew that the massacres would only continue and get worse. We Americans have entered a suicide pact with the crazies and their NRA enablers.
Guns
I hate guns with a passion and always have. That's one thing that makes me feel good about myself. Ironically, the early Christian church embraced pacifism. There are plenty of New Testament Bible versus to support this position, yet in America "guns and God" appear to go hand-in-hand.
Instead of shooting Bambi's, glass bottles, clay pigeons, or silhouettes of unlucky men, why not just enjoy a quiet hike in the forest? Listen to the gurgle of a running stream, and enjoy the majesty of wild deer instead of killing them. Just chill out. Guns are noisy, they terrify wildlife, and are extremely dangerous. There are so many other more peaceful hobbies.
Of course, I am continually told, "If our guns are taken away, then only the criminals will have guns." Well, that's a sad reality. If you feel unsafe in this insane, dangerous country, buy yourself a handgun. But at least get yourself thoroughly trained and keep it away from children.
The sad fact is that there are already millions of guns in our social ecosystem. And now some politicians recommend that we get millions more to stop the crazies with the guns. It's a downward spiral to hell.
Now, what I currently keep hearing is, "Gun control hasn't helped Chicago." Well, I'm guessing that most of the gun violence there is gang and drug related. That problem requires a different approach at the community level. What I am suggesting is that we ban semi-automatic assault weapons and require rigorous screening for gun buyers.
The Gun Cult
When I had my first blog in 2004 I rarely received comments from outsiders. But whenever I posted an anti-gun message, the gun advocates came out of nowhere and sent me terse messages, sometimes threatening. I was amazed that gun cultist are so dedicated to protecting "gun rights" that they must constantly peruse the Internet, looking for anything that may challenge their gun powder-based religion. In this country, gun owners are fanatical about their dangerous play toys.
Take Action
It's ironic that the best gun control groups were founded by victims of gun violence. My two favorites are The Brady Campaign and Giffords. The Brady Campaign was founded by Jim and Sarah Brady. Jim was shot during the Reagan assassination attempt and passed away a few years ago. Giffords is a congresswoman who was shot during a town hall meeting in 2011. After Sandy Hook, she and her husband said, "ENOUGH," and founded a gun control organization. I encourage you to get on the email list of both these organizations (links below) and send them money. They provide a desperately needed counterbalance to the NRA.
Personal Assessment
Sorry, folks, we are screwed. The mass shootings are something we get to live with forever — apoptosis. When I mentioned this to someone a few days ago, they replied to me, "Yes, but your chances of being a shooting victim are still very slim." But that means NOTHING. That doesn't bring dead people back to life or ease the suffering of family members. Give me a fucking break.
After every mass shooting, mostly Republicans send out their nauseating "thoughts and prayers" platitudes. And before long, will go back to their debates on making guns even MORE LETAL by considering such things as silencers and ensuring the legality of bumper stocks.
As the wounded are treated and the dead are buried, flags are flown at half mast (it's to the point where they almost stay at half mast), and people hold candlelight vigils. Some political and religious leaders will make banal speeches about how we "need to unite together" and "overcome evil." But all of this is pointless because the only solution is a political solution. The only thing we can do is make politicians more scared of us than the NRA lobby. Financial donations, phone calls, and letters by the millions may get our impotent Congress to move. I doubt it, but as people of conscious we have to try.
It's as if each mass murderer tries to outdo the other one. The Las Vegas massacre was sick beyond belief. Did Congress do anything? NO. And then as we are still trying to absorb that tragedy and others, a whack job walks into a church and guns down more people.
Sanity is down the toilet. Welcome to the new America.
Source: Opensecrets.com, Giffords, Brady Campaign, Who Would Jesus Kill
Photo credit: Sebastian Spindler
