by Kidman J. Williams

Another school shooting has happened and our country is not only mourning, but people are scrambling for reasons and solutions. Just in 2022 there have already been 27 school shootings around the country. That is just the school shootings. This does not include killings like Pennsylvania.

The latest shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas sparked Biden to say these words:

“As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun Lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”

The latest shooting, alleged shooter Salvador Ramos not only shot his own grandmother, but continued by arriving at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. He allegedly shot at some people on his way into the school where killed 19 children and two adults.

Ramos fit the generic description of many psycho killers. The alleged killer worked at Wendy’s in town where his manager, Adrian Mendes went on record stating about Ramos:

“He felt like the quiet type, the one who doesn’t say much. He didn’t really socialize with the other employees. He just worked, got paid, and came in to get his check.”

There have been some others that stated on record that he displayed an aggressive nature as well, even claiming that he carried boxing gloves around to fight people, but I’m not here to overtalk the nature of Ramos and his alleged ambitions of killing his poor grandmother and all those innocent elementary school children that were just beginning their journey in life.

I can leave that up to the politicians to attempt a battle against the NRA and all of their loyalists.

The question is, what can we do as a country that still allows us to exercise our freedoms? What steps need to be taken in order to ensure the safety of people like the shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, Sandy Hook shooting, or the latest. There is also the much lesser-known shooting at Marshall County High. I knew about this one because the shooter was my former boss’ son. She was the Editor in Chief at the Cadiz Record (owned by Paxton Media) in Cadiz, Kentucky. Her son Gabriel Parker whom I met on a few occasions at the office fit the bill of a quiet kid with seemingly good manners. He seemed a bit off, but never seemed to be a potential killer. They never do.

The real question is what can be done about these horrendous attacks on the public?

I Grew Up with a Gun, I’ll Die with a Gun

I know many began reading this article with spite and an itchy typing finger to complain on social media. They might type in all capital letters calling me things like a snowflake, a libtard, a cuck, maybe even a coloring book. If they do, they didn’t bother putting their 8^th grade educations to work by reading this article.

See! I can make statements generalizing a whole group of people to. And I can do it in a much more clever way.

The fact is that I grew up with guns. My grandfathers on both sides were hunters and avid gun enthusiasts. My father is a lifetime member of the NRA. The man is a rightwing to the maximum. He isn’t afraid to let people know it either. He was also a hardcore union man as well, Local 705 I believe. For those that don’t know, Union work is much more of a Democrat thing to do.

He only votes red because he wants his gun rights to be unaffected. And frankly, that is a lot of people. My father isn’t the only one in this country to vote red for the sake of the 2^nd Amendment.

Like many kids, my first experience with guns and gun safety came in the form of a Daisy BB gun with Copperhead BB’s. My parents bought it for me on my 7^th birthday. I was so happy and no, I did not shoot my eye out because my father taught me how to respect the weapon I was holding.

By the age of about 10 I was already shooting my first handguns and .22 rifle. That began a lifelong love for guns. It was a life lesson handed down from generation to generation. The guns also promoted family bonding. We would all have a wonderful time shooting and just catching up as a family. Something that I myself am passing down into my next generation.

I was also taught the real meaning behind having weapons protected through the 2^nd Amendment. Guns are not just about home protection and hunting. It is pretty easy to shoot down the “muskets” argument. They are also there for our protection against an unjust government. Yes, even our own.

The 1^st Amendment has been infringed upon in many ways. The 1^st Amendment is our first line of defense against the corrupt. When President Biden says that we need to stand up against gun lobbyists, you know what he really wants to have happen. Many of his loyalists skip common sense gun laws and go straight for disarming the public.

The White House released a statement regarding President Biden’s ideas on gun control stating:

“President Biden will use the State of the Union Address to reiterate his call for Congress to pass commonsense gun violence prevention legislation that will save lives. This legislation, which fully aligns with the Second Amendment, includes requiring background checks for all gun sales, ensuring that no terrorist can buy a weapon in the United States, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, repealing gun manufacturers’ protection from liability, and banning ghost guns.”

Unlike what many rightwing red wavers claim about Biden, he doesn’t seem to want to take guns away and throw the 2^nd Amendment out the door like a dead body in a New York Alley. It is a call for common sense gun laws to help prevent these shootings which have become out of control.

I’m not the biggest fan of Biden. I’ll rephrase that. I am not a fan of Biden. Jimmy Carter did more with his tenure. Carter could form a full sentence.

Common sense gun laws are now needed in this country. I love shooting. Would never want to see the day when guns are outlawed from the U.S. I promise you, if that day comes, our countrymen and women will be in trouble.

We need to stop hearing how we need to ban weapons from the quiet morons and come up with a real solution. Banning is just a shortcut for people who have no imagination or work ethic. American novelist Louis L’mour said, “When guns are outlawed only the outlaws will have guns.”

That goes for our government as well. The political parties make this a political issue. This is not a partisan issue; this is a human issue.

Countries that ban guns are not proven to be safer. Finland has 1.5 million registered guns and they are rated one of the safest places in the world. It might just be time to come to the realization, some Americans are just crazier than a naked hooker taking communion on a Tuesday and our governing body is more corrupt than the priest giving it to her.

We won’t be able to stop all of it. In this case idealism is dangerous. We can use everything in our collective powers to lessen the number of incidents by utilizing strict background checks and psychological evaluations. Maybe being stricter with waiting periods on guns like the AR-15 and raising the age to 21 to buy them.

It may cost more, it will definitely take an effort, but wouldn’t it be worth it? It would have been worth it to all those parents out there who have lost children to one of these disgusting human beings. To all the gun fanatics, if you aren’t crazy you will still own a gun despite the psyche evaluations and waiting periods.

It is the time to stop politicizing the gun dispute and begin to humanize the issue.