300 Million guns in US.
This morning I was in the kitchen listening to my iPod while making Presley's morning smoothie. My music was on random because I was bored with my current playlist. The song, Jeremy by Pearl Jam began playing. The song hit me in a way it never had before.
The song was released in 1993. The song was written after Eddie Vedder (lead singer) had read about Jeremy Delle a 15 year old boy from Texas shot and killed himself in front of his English class. Eddie Vedder stated that when writing the song he also drew from his experience with a boy from his high school that shot up an oceanography room, Vedder was in the halls and recalls hearing the shots. Vedder had several altercations with the boy...
The video starts out with the words, "an affluent suburb, 64 degrees and cloudy" and ends with those same words. This is done to represent that nothing changed. I realize that 20 years later nothing has changed. Kids are killing themselves, killing others, killing children and nothing has changed.
I'm not here to say that we need to ban ALL guns. What I am saying is that nothing has been done! 99 gun laws have been passed since 2009 that make owning, buying and carrying a gun easier and harder to track. I don't give a crap about owning a gun- personally, if you do *great*! Get a gun! But obtaining that gun should be becoming harder not easier. Look at what changes were made in airports after 9.11.
The Constitution is "a living document", the Founding Fathers knew it would *have* to change with the times. Article Five of the Constitution reads: "The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses [the House and the Senate] shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution . . ." States were also given a chance to propose changes, or amendments. Three-fourths of the states have to approve the amendment for it to become law. Hello, they are called *amendments*... When it was first written only white men over 21 could vote. So, yeah it can be changed.
The other obvious conponet to this argument is the state of mental health care. There are a lot of people that need help and aren't getting it? It's worth figuring out. If you are holding a glass of water and notice a crack what do you do first? The easiest fix, put your finger over the break until you can find a better solution. Slowing down the sale of guns by stricter laws seems like the finger over the break to me. It won't stop all the water from coming out, but it's a start.
With Presley starting school this year I've talked to a lot of parents about education, picking teachers, picking the best schools, the best learning environment and all that "stuff". What became clear to me was that there are kids in this country that "fall through the cracks". Maybe they don't have parents (or ones that care), or suffer in social situations, or they are "bad kids", or mental issues but hey, "they aren't my problem". What struck me is that, they can only be ignored for so long. They are my problem and your problem because they are a part of our society.
"clearly I remember
picking on the boy
seemed a harmless little fuck
but we unleashed a lion"
Pearl Jam~ Jeremy
I'm not fearful, I know there is more good than bad in this world. I care. I care that our world is changing and our understanding on how to help and protect ourselves and our children isn't apparent or easy.
With Sandy Hook, Boston, Tucson, Amish School, Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora, Sikh temple, and all the others, there are so so many innocent victims. There's no telling when or where the next victims will be, but make no mistake there will be more.
Here is a link to the 62 mass killings that have taken place in the US since 1982 2012. All of 2013 have yet to be added, there has been one mass killing a month (in the US) since 2009.
Click on the map to go to the site with the story that goes with the map.
Click on photo to read more.
I've got 99 problems and ... ;)