Now’s the time to have that discussion

When is the right time to talk about gun control? Is there a right time? What can we do to prevent mass shootings, and what can we do to shed light on racism, mental illness and propaganda? These are questions that I am asking myself since I left the Republican Party with a new outlook on real-life issues.

When I originally began political activism, I made the mistake of believing that the 2nd amendment was about every American should have the right to own arms. I was in the United States Army, and seeing guns regularly was the norm for me. I believed of what I was being told by conservative pundits that Democrats wanted to take all guns away. I feel my story of how I changed political parties is still important because I believe it’s relevant to today’s problems. There is so much misinformation that’s being spread around specifically the 2nd amendment and what Democrats and what majority of Americans want, which is a gun law reform. I want to be clear, with what I learned Democrats and American liberals do not want gun confiscation. Everyone believes and supports the 2nd amendment. What’s left out by conservative pundits is the fine print of what it says,

“RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS”
“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

There have been lots of debates to what the means and how we can govern our laws but it’s clear that it says well regulated. We have to be honest with our selves that there are just some people in our country who shouldn’t own firearms. We also need to be honest with our selves that there’s absolutely no reason that a civilian should own Military-style assault rifles. The majority of mass shootings that take place are done by AR 15s, a civilian style of AK 47s, and Military type ammo magazines.

Even today’s conservative pundits like to control the narrative, we can’t allow them to do that. We need to treat each mass shooting events as isolated incidents unless there’s evidence of a connection with the other. Conservatives on social media where almost ecstatic to find out that the shooter from Dayton Ohio was a liberal who supported people like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, including support of Democratic Socialism policies. The reason for this support was to justify Trump’s racism, dog whistles, and hateful rhetoric towards people of color, immigrants, and congresswomen of color. The shooter of El Paso had a manifesto of Trump-supporting rhetoric, and it was clear that Mexican people were his target. When you see the facts of the shooter from Dayton, it was more of a personal situation with clear signs of mental illness. If people paid more attention to the warning signs, I.E. “rape list” may have been prevented.

I believe we as a nation need to look closer to why people on the right do not want to work with the rest of us on ways we can make our country safer. We have to ask tough questions like, “What are you afraid of?” “Are you scared of specific groups?” Find out as much information as possible so we can get our country on the right path to be a safer community. The United States has the largest statistics in the world with the most shootings. Every country has violent video games, every country has a mental illness, and hate what they have that the United States doesn’t have are good common-sense laws that protect its people. We need to have this discussion now, debating time is over.

The last thing I want to talk about with you is my idea that may help. It may be a stretch to some of you but I believe when a right has been so abused for so long it should no longer be a right. How many more lives will it take for something to be done? I believe we need to defund the National Rifle Association. They have been influential with their blood money influencing Republican Politicians from making the right laws to keep their people safe. We also need to permanently ban assault weapons and ammo, there’s no reason that a civilian should own Military-style weapons. They also need to put regulations on weapons that will make them less dangerous. There have to be universal background checks, and stricter laws when it comes to people with mental illness. Also, ask the tough questions should veterans with PTSD own weapons? Lastly, I think every person who has a weapon should have it registered after having a background check, and I think these laws need to become Federal so that every state and city will be on the same page so there will be no more “what about Chicago” talking points. I strongly believe weapon safety training should be required at the purchase of every weapon, and lastly, there should be a limit on how many weapons a person has. We also need to discuss how to prevent criminals from having access to firearms. I am at the personal feeling using a “right” is no longer an excuse to save lives anymore, we need to do something.