Thoughts And Prayers

We hear a lot of “thoughts & prayers” lately.  And if you are a person deeply embedded in his/her faith, those can be very comforting words.  Thoughts & prayers.

For the rest of us, however, looking at a loved one in a hospital bed who’s been shot (in the shoulder, chest, back, leg…doesn’t really matter where), those words are of little comfort to us.  Those words won’t take away any of the pain we’re feeling at that moment, or afterwards.  Those words won’t heal any of the wounds inflicted by those bullet(s).

There are appropriate times when those words can and should be used:  the passing of a loved one of natural causes, the passing of strangers of a natural disaster, the passing of a beloved author, movie star, painter, poet, and so on.  Those are the times when “thoughts & prayers” are appropriate.

That said, however, yes, there are appropriate times to speak out about gun violence, gun laws, gun use/abuse.  When?   

Please sit down for this as it will come as a complete and utter shock to you:

ANY TIME.

Now, yesterday, tomorrow. Morning, noon, night.  Weekdays. Weekends. 

Any time is the right and appropriate time to talk about issues surrounding guns.

Sounds simple.  And guess what?  It IS simple. 

Hold on there, pardner!

I know what you’re thinking.  I know exactly what you’re thinking:

If we talk about gun issues, ANY gun issues, there’s a chance that those “left-wing, tree-huggin’, nut-job liberals will take away our guns.  We NEED those guns for protection, and you’ll get our guns when you pry them from our cold, dead hands.

While there is a speck of truth in there, mostly it’s fear of the unknown for these people.  They actually believe that someone out there, some phantom person/group, WANTS to “take away our guns”.  No, quite the opposite.  

We, those people out there, want to strengthen gun laws for law abiding citizens, remove loopholes in gun laws, strengthen background checks, and basically keep people from losing or somehow forfeiting their Constitutional rights of gun ownership. 

The recent shooting in Las Vegas brought to light a device that turned a semi-automatic weapon into a fully-automatic weapon… the “bump stock”.   

Many in Congress and the Senate of the U.S. had never heard of such a device.  In my mind, if fully automatic weapons are illegal, then a device that makes a weapon fully automatic should be illegal.  Washington D.C. is still debating this issue.  Why?

And the people killed in that Las Vegas shooting, around 58 or 59, thoughts and prayers couldn’t save them.  They were just in Vegas for an outdoor concert, trying to have a fun time listening to some amazing music.  Thoughts & prayers. Thoughts and prayers. 

No, the right time for “that talk”, the one about gun related issues, is NOW, not later. 

What will it take to have “that talk”?  The President of the United States getting shot?

Would that be the appropriate time?

 (And NO, by the way, I'm NOT suggesting ANY sort of violence against our leader.)

Nope, once we even suggest “that talk”, the NRA, the Republican Party, gun owners across the country will explode because they are worried, really worried, that someone will take away their guns.  Wow.

NO ONE is making the suggestion, and it’s only a suggestion, that your guns be taken away.

I leave you with this:

When did ‘thoughts & prayers’ ever save a victim of gun violence?