Everywhere We Go, All We Ever Seem to Hear is Bang Bang, Bang Bang
Gun violence, and the death injury and trauma that comes with it, have pervaded and invaded nearly every corner of American society. From schools in Vegas and Nashville, to malls in Texas, to front yards in Louisiana, to RV parks in the Mojave Desert, to sweet 16 parties in Alabama, we see story after story of nearly incomprehensible violence wrought by fellow Americans on each other day after day, week after week, year after year. In just 2023 alone, there have been over one mass shootings a week. Over 45,000 people died last year from gun violence whether self-inflicted or inflicted on another. Even if we believed the those who counsel waiting to “get political” in respect for the grieving families, the reality is, there simply isn't enough time anymore between shootings to wait and put off action. Individual shooters, although they are almost always male, can have many different motivations to commit such heinous crimes, but to become fixated on individual motive is to miss the forest for the trees. as #DSOT points out every time we write on this most tragic of subjects, the key common factor between all this violence is the guns! The data shows countries with fewer weapons, or at least more restrictions on their weapons, don't suffer nearly the same levels of violence we do. Of course, this is old news at this point, and the American people, by and large know the facts. That's why even a recent Fox poll showed:
87% support requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers.
77% support requiring a 30-day waiting period for all gun purchases.
81% support raising the legal age to purchase a gun to 21
80% support requiring mental health checks for all gun purchasers
80% support confiscation of weapons by the police from people considered a danger to themselves or others.
61% of voters support banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons.
As with so many of the pervasive issues in this country, it’s not that the American people are divided, it’s that their wants and needs are ignored by those in power. Gun violence, and mass shootings in particular, are where American society clearly demonstrates its values of capitalist profits over people. We allow our children to be gunned down in the streets and in their schools, we allow Americans to live in fear every day going to public spaces all to protect profits of the NRA and weapons manufacturers. In America, the whispers of donors’ campaign contributions prove louder than the cries of Americans dying from bullet wounds in politicians’ ears. The entire nightmare is even more galling when we consider that Republicans distract and obfuscate from real solutions by focusing on mental health despite never investing in mental health solutions like Medicare and Medicaid. In fact, Republicans can more often be found cutting medical spending rather than expand medical coverage. It's clear that the system relies on this dysfunction insulating politicians from having to answer to their constituents in order to continue lining the pockets of the NRA and weapons manufacturers over the bodies of Americans. This won't change with just simple voting. We need politicians that are going to fight for gun control legislation, but then we also need politicians ready to stand up to the Supreme Court and its radical, absolutist interpretation of the second amendment. To endure throughout the long struggle, movements supporting gun control will need economic power to face up against the donor class currently lining politicians’ pockets. It's going to take both economic might and political power wielded against politicians who won't regulate guns and bring safety back to our country to end this epidemic of gun violence. So, join us each Tuesday in growing solidarity as we work to make sure that our gun regulations make sense to actually protect Americans! #DSOT #UPM
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