I Can't Talk About Gun Control Anymore

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)

I don't think I can talk about gun control anymore.  I realized this yesterday when I was trying to recall a specific shooting story from last year, and the list of stories that racked through my head before I finally landed on the correct one was so long it made me start to openly cry.  The events in Lafeyette, LA last week were particularly troubling for me.  This isn't just because in many ways movie theaters are basically my refuge, my sanctuary, my home-away-from-home.  It's always because I was in a movie theater while it happened.  I took some solace a few years back with Aurora in my personal, foolish rationalizing of my own-safety, knowing that I never go to midnight movies.  I never go to crowded theaters like the one that showed The Dark Knight Rises.  But this-this was a random Thursday night.  It wasn't a violent movie at all-it was a love story.  And I was watching the same exact movie a thousand miles away, at the exact same time.  I went home to tweet Amy Schumer that I had just hit her movie, in hopes of getting that constant goal of all Twitterers (a celebrity response), and instead I saw her heart broken about what had transpired.  It sent a jolt in my mind of how no venue is completely safe.

But it isn't a lack of personal safety that makes me not want to write about gun control.  I frequently write about issues that unnerve me or that touch way too-close-to-home because that's my way of coping, and my way of trying to make the world a better place.  My aversion to writing about gun control is that the response every single time is the same, which is of indifference.  I look at someone like Gov. Bobby Jindal who is running to lead the country, and he says "now is not the time" to talk about gun violence, but when is?  When is the time to talk about it?  Surely after shootings in movie theaters and churches and military bases it was the time.  Surely after shootings at an elementary school it was the time.  When is the time, because shootings seem too frequent for us to always be mourning.  Action is the best way to mourn; prevention is the best way to mourn.  We saw that with the shootings in Charleston, South Carolina, where we saw a reckoning for the Confederate Flag, but we didn't see any response to try and stop the actual violence.  The shooter in South Carolina (I refuse to use their names-I'm onboard with that movement) was a man who had a pending felony but he was still able to own a firearm.  That is messed up, and I think we can all agree on that.

I can't talk about it anymore because even when the perfect example of a man who shouldn't own a gun comes up, people like Bobby Jindal aren't willing to pass any legislation to make it so the man can't actually own the gun (he has, to be fair, been on-record as stating that the Lafeyette shooter shouldn't own a gun, but it's pretty easy to say that of a murderer, and I'll believe he's actually serious about such opinions when he puts his words into legislation).  Seriously-the shooter has been committed (voluntarily, which is where the catch was on owning the gun), has a history of erratic behavior, and has had orders of protection placed against him by his wife and daughter.  This is a textbook example of a man who should have his second amendment rights thrown out the window.  And yet that's not the focus here-you have people like Gov. Rick Perry not arguing against this man owning a gun, but in favor of more people carrying guns into movie theaters in case this happens.  Because that's what we needed in this situation-more weapons, more escalated violence (the sarcasm meter is going off like a fire alarm in case you missed it there).

What we actually need is more gun control laws.  Bans on semi-automatic weapons-you don't need them unless you are involved in public protection of some kind.  Background checks with a national database.  Harsher penalties for illegal gun-traffickers.  Heavy regulation of gun shows and gun retailers who don't properly conduct background checks and comply with owner regulations (and fines and bans on sale for those that don't comply).  And yes, better funding for mental health officials, both in schools and in lower-income areas.

It's simple-the Lafeyette shooter wouldn't have had legal access to a firearm if these laws were in place.  The Lafeyette shooting likely wouldn't have happened if this were the case.  The reality is that states with more gun control laws have less mass shootings.  This is a fact.  Other developed countries do not experience this level of mass shooting, and that is a direct correlation to their gun control laws.  If we heard of Newtown, of Aurora, of Columbine, of Charleston, of Lafeyette in other countries, we would condemn so fast.  This is unacceptable.  It makes me sick that we don't do something to prevent this level of violence, particularly when we have proven methods at our disposal.  And yet because of a powerful lobby and a lack of political expedience we do nothing.  And that's why I just can't find a way to talk about it anymore.