protocol

it’s weird that this shit happens so often that i’ve developed a protocol for how i respond to mass shooting. for one, i don’t post on social media about these things. i don’t generally post on social media about anything related to the issues of our times because it just seems kind of pointless to me. what would be the point? to shout out to the randomly curated audience of facebook friends about how these types of things quietly rip me apart inside? why? to solicit “amens” from within my echo chamber? to demonstrate something about my values? or to impress with my insightful take on the thing that keeps happening again and again? (and again…)

i mean it sincerely. i can’t figure out how it matters what i share in that setting.

i talk to my kids about it. i process here in this quasi-private corner of the internet where my intent really is just to capture my thoughts for me. mostly just for me.

***

and here’s what popped into my head this afternoon. we keep getting so wrapped around the axel around the constitutional guarantees around bearing arms. okay fine. let’s allow every american adult to exercise that right by allowing ONE hand gun to whoever wants it. still have to pass initial screening, still has to be a waiting period, and background check. but not a super high bar.

but for every additional fire arm, and for anything other than a simple hand gun that shoots five or six bullets, you need to undergo a safety training (like we currently feel comfortable requiring in colorado for a concealed carry license), additional screening/background check.

when i mentioned this idea to J this evening he asked we if could add in some kind of regular psych eval for all gun owners. sure. why not. i’m making this up anyway. this could be a sneaky way of injecting some mental healthcare into the dynamic. create a for-profit industry around mental health for gun ownership.

i think there might be something there.

god help me if we fall back into the predictable all or nothing, thoughts and prayers bullshit. i heard somewhere that close to 72% of americans believe there should be some additional efforts around gun safety. we can’t keep not doing anything. we can’t.