Gun control, Goddammit

I've seen many many Facebook posts today admonishing people for treating the Newtown, CT, tragedy "politically."  Lots of finger wagging going on -- aimed at those who have made their views known in the wake of such senseless horror.

Here's the thing.  People are allowed to be sad and angry at the same time.  And people are allowed to feel that if the system in this country were different, then perhaps such senseless, brutal tragedy might not have happened.  Folks are wailing and moaning and gnashing their teeth about how they feel angry and powerless and asking "What can I do?" and "How do we stop this?"  But, clearly, there is something we can do.  And that something involves politics and social change.  So if you are busy admonishing people for making this horrific event "political," suck it up, buttercup.  This is political, because it is social.  And we (I) have a right to be angry.  Because 20 mothers are waiting right now for their babies' bodies to be released from a crime scene.  And this could have been prevented.

Here are some facts: The July, 2011 US census lists the US population as 311,591,917.  The same US census lists the percentage of population that is under 18 years of age as 23.7%.  That means the total number of legal adults in this country is approximately 237,744,633.  The total number of non-military guns in the US is 310 million, according to CNN (August 2012).  So, statistically, every adult in this country owns 1.3 guns.  (Never mind that more than half the country doesn't own any at all, so those that do have 'em own well over 1.3 a piece.)  And the fact is that United States has a staggeringly high number of gun-related deaths per capita than other industrialized nations.  (I'm sure you've seen the memes and the West Wing episode touting this point.)

Look at it this way: What if every American were limited to ownership of one handgun for self-defense and one rifle for hunting.  Say you had to have a valid hunting license to get the rifle.  That'd be a start, right?  Gun owners, you get to keep your precious guns to protect yourselves or slaughter animals in the name of "sport."  But stockpiles and automatic weapons are out of the realm of possibility.  How far would Adam Lanza have gotten if he tried to bust into that school with a single handgun?  Yes, people would have gotten hurt, and even killed, but I'd bet my life that he never would've made it as far as a classroom--and he certainly wouldn't have been able to mow down 20 babies with a single handgun before someone stopped him.

And here's the other thing.  Mental illness needs to be legitimately addressed in this country.  Now.  If a heart malfunctions -- or a kidney, or a pancreas -- we take steps to treat the problem.  If a brain malfunctions, the owner of that brain is shunned, avoided, labeled and ostracized.  Why, why, why is mental illness not met with the same assertive public health initiative of anti-smoking or healthy eating campaigns?  Why do people still not recognize -- or even ignore -- the signs that someone's brain is misfiring?

Will every person with a mental illness pick up a gun and seek to harm others? Of course not.  But if we stopped rolling our eyes and saying "that dude's weird" and started getting involved and trying to make sure that those who are too ill to help themselves get some fucking help, it'd go a long way to stopping this terrifying and tragic behavior.

I can't count the number of people who've said today "What kind of a person can do this?"  The answer is, simply, "a very, very sick one."  No normal person mows down little babies in a classroom.  Or people in a movie theater.  Or students on a college campus.  Something is terribly, tragically wrong in your brain if mass-murder is your answer.  And everyone else damned well better believe that somebody, somewhere noticed that something wasn't quite right with Adam Lanza. And James Holmes. And Seung-Hui Cho.

So please, for the love of whatever you believe in, stop pointing fingers at people who are correctly angry and advocating for social change. Social change, in the form of responsible gun control and serious education about mental illness, is what will stop these kinds of tragedies from happening.  And if nothing changes, you know, then nothing will change.  And this will happen again.  And more parents will be mourning the loss of their children.

Suck it up, buttercup.