Tag: gun violence

America is, at the moment, mired in a reaction to the Valentines Day Massacre at Parkland, Florida. There are a dearth of reads you can cross in media and on social networks… Hell, I hosted one “read” in comments reacting to a status I posted that night. It was the same-old, same-old though: Facts posted and a “I’m not listening! I’m not listening!” type of response.

Tonight, I crossed a blog post through social media that caught my eye both because of the friend who shared the link as well as how bold (and in quotes) the post was: “Fuck you, I like guns.”

The military breeds a distinct type of gun expert: Trained to kill. The piece divulges the comfort of the M-4… and how the AR-15 is it’s doppelganger. Military weaponry, one that was given to soldiers to prepare them for battle. The other available to the masses back home with the notion attached that guns like this are just right and used primarily for hunting.

From the article:

This rifle is so deadly and so easy to use that no civilian should be able to get their hands on one. We simply don’t need these things in society at large. I always find it interesting that when I was in the Army, and part of my job was to be incredibly proficient with this exact weapon, I never carried one at any point in garrison other than at the range. Our rifles lived in the arms room, cleaned and oiled, ready for the next range day or deployment. We didn’t carry them around just because we liked them. We didn’t bluster on about barracks defense and our second amendment rights. We tucked our rifles away in the arms room until the next time we needed them, just as it had been done since the Army’s inception. The military police protected us from threats in garrison. They had 9 mm Berettas to carry. They were the only soldiers who carry weapons in garrison. We trusted them to protect us, and they delivered. With notably rare exceptions, this system has worked well. There are fewer shootings on Army posts than in society in general, probably because soldiers are actively discouraged from walking around with rifles, despite being impeccably well trained with them. Perchance, we could have the largely untrained civilian population take a page from that book?

That’s a rather large quote to take, I’ll admit, but I do it to allude to the read: This is a former member of the United States Army standing up and saying it’s time to talk turkey.

If you’re pro-gun or stand for gun control, take a few minutes and read. It’s not trying to steal rights but it’s not blessing carte blanche because of the 2^nd Amendment, either.