I hardly know what to say about the slaughter of children in Texas yesterday, sacrifices to the Great God of the GOP, the NRA. Obviously the solution is better, and better enforced, gun regulations, but just as obviously, we've decided against that in the USA.
As one of my conservatives students said after the mass shooting in Parkland, the "feelings" of liberals about dead children does not trump his right to own any firearm he pleases. That's what America believes, and until they stop thinking guns have more rights than school children, this is where we will be.
It's certainly been ironic to watch conservatives squeal that the obvious solution to school shootings is to put more armed police in the schools, and to give teachers guns. And by "ironic" I mean "really fucking depressing."
School shootings in America in the 21st century. My PhD advisor is on this list, by the way. He was shot in his office in August 2000.
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One of my colleagues (whose office is now next to mine) has literally told me that his ability to get top profit for his machine guns (he didn't say machine guns-- he used whatever lingo they use) at gun fairs is more important than reducing school shootings.
He advises the state governor on state gun policy.
The "right" of people to profit by guns and carry guns as senselessly and as recklessly as they please is far more important to this country than the lives of its children. No matter how much conservatives shout "pro-life" slogans, that's a fact.
Here is where I am right now: rights can be discouraged. Let's tax guns like we do cigarettes, only more so. Let's curtail ownership with age checks and other approvals like we do drinking. Let's require a doctor's sign off on mental health before purchase like some states do for medical marijuana. Let's hem it in by training and relicensing requirements and bad-choice penalties like we do driving. Let's put in permitting requirements for storage that has to be checked and approved before you can buy, like we do for bathroom remodels.
And if that does no good, then let's change the rights. The Constitution is an editable document. We can damn well take away the right.
We should also require owners of guns to carry liability insurance, like we do for cars.
Several years ago, there was a big attack on a high school in the county next to mine. The person responsible injured 21 people.
There were no fatalities. The student carried out the attack with two knives. I want to yell, "It's the guns, you clods."
Also, someone once suggested that we should make all guns pink. Either it'll drive away all the men who want lots of guns in order to look macho, or it'll mark the end of the pink-blue gender binary. A win either way.
A guy on FB told me sternly that since people have a "sin nature," it is no use banning guns. People will always kill each other, even if they have to resort to rocks.
A lot harder to murder 19 ten year old with a rock, I said, and he changed the subject.
What I want to know is how did you not throw hands at that student?
He was ALWAYS saying idiotic nonsense like that -- he watched Steve Crowder and that crowd, and thought he was a lot smarter than he actually was. I was glad when he stopped taking my classes.
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