A Society of Gun Worshipers

A friend of mine and I have recently begun having a conversation about guns, particularly her extreme pro-gun stance and my questioning of any gun that takes more ammo than one has fingers. Grab the popcorn, this Facebook drama just got real!

So, this most recent conversation started because of her sharing and commenting on a post about a Texas school district arming their teachers with guns. I know that when my husband went to school to become a teacher, it was so he could carry a loaded gun into the classroom as part of the required uniform! Don’t want to carry a gun? You’re fired! How many of these teachers who don’t feel comfortable carrying a gun will do so because they fear their jobs are at stake? Do you really want your kids in a classroom with a teacher who has a loaded firearm? Better pray to God that your kids don’t talk back or they may just get a cap in their ass! Seriously people, fear tactics only lead to more fear. Having a false sense of security looks good on paper, but until you get to the root of the problem, it will only continue to get worse.

What, then, might those root problems be? For starters, perhaps if we as a society actually cared about our children, then perhaps we would properly fund their education instead of constantly cutting back, closing schools, and increasing class sizes beyond what the rooms were designed to hold just to save a buck or two in taxes each year, then blaming teachers that their kids are failing because instead of getting an actual education, they are being taught to take a test which has no real world bearing whatsoever so they don’t lose funding, forcing the schools to close and teachers to be out of a job. Perhaps then these kids wouldn't grow up to become sociopaths because the adults around them actually showed they cared. I’m not so sure I want to live in a society where children are taught that the only way to survive in this world is to kill or be killed.

By no means am I anti-gun. While I personally do not own a gun, I grew up in a household where there were guns, I knew where they were, I knew they were loaded, and I knew the only time to ever touch one was for self defense. However, when there are guns specifically targeted to the five and under age group, it makes me question both the parents buying said guns and manufacturers who feel the need to arm our preschoolers and kindergarteners. I was also taught the value of life, specifically that life has value. We live in an age where many kids don’t get that anymore. It’s no wonder there has been an increase in kids killing their siblings, either accidentally or on purpose because they wouldn’t share a toy. Since a majority of these people tend to be on the conservative Christian side, perhaps they could actually read their Bible. It’s not like the blurb, “You shall not kill,” is some obscure reference. A 2-shot rifle or a handgun are more than enough for self defense, you do not need to have a gun that has 30 rounds or more of ammunition to fight off an intruder unless you plan on committing mass murder, but if you have those in your house, educate your children on how dangerous these weapons really are.

If we want to counteract violence, more violence is not the answer. If we want to protect our children, stop treating our schools like prisons. If we truly want to have a safer society, then we need to start showing it. Get involved in your kids’s lives. Know their friends and those they hang out with. Teach them how precious life is and not just how to take a life. Children are not born wanting to commit violent acts, but they are taught either through actions or neglect.