Cold Heartless Steel

November 9, 2015 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

Minding my own business

Sitting here in the dark

I hear the children playing

I feel so exposed at times like these

The light goes on in the bedroom

I can see the shadows of the children’s steps

They pull the draw open

Their eyes widen as they look at me

The older one picks me up

I can tell I am heavier than he thought

I am afraid of what I might do.

Why was I left alone with the children?

Where are their parents?

Don’t point me like that, I’m saying. Run!

“Don’t worry,” the older one tells his sister

My familiar roar explodes in the room

I am racing the small girl as we both fall to the floor

Screams follow

Life spreads out into the carpet

Lives are altered and ended

Don’t blame me

I had to pass through an adult’s hands to end up here

I did what I was made to do

Kill.

Skip the Insane Root

October 27, 2015 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

macbeth

Or have we eaten on the insane root

That takes the reason prisoner?

Shakespeare, Macbeth I, iii, 84

Gun violence prevention is a lofty goal. It is also a multi-faceted problem. To deny that is to fall into the simplistic reasoning so often used by gun rights proponents. However, the difficulty of the task before us is no excuse not to attempt to address it. To ignore it is to abdicate responsibility to our families, neighbors, children, and ourselves. President Kennedy, at Rice Stadium on September 12, 1962, one year before being assassinated by a gunman, spoke of the necessity of facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles for the right reasons when he said:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, he addressed the need to begin facing massive challenges to the republic. He said, “All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.” Such determination is what is needed today. And we need not be a intimidated by the fear of not solving the entire problem. Indeed, President Obama, in his second inaugural address on January 21, 2013, said the following:

“For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.”

We must begin to face the problem of gun violence in America. We stand apart from the rest of the developed world in the number of guns in circulation and the number of injuries, suicides, and homicides committed with a gun.

To accept the status quo is to relegate our children to a future where fear and paranoia trump participation and confidence. Compassion and empathy must triumph if we are to survive. Anything less would be to eat from Shakespeare’s insane root, surrendering reason. Our children and our country deserve better.

A Hero in Full

October 21, 2015 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

Growing up, Pete Rose was my idol. He played baseball like I thought the game should be played. All hustle, all the time. As I grew older, my idols came and went (so did my baseball skills!), and I learned that there is a difference between heroes and idols. I found that idolatry dehumanized the person and ascribed to them mythical attributes. A hero by definition (and by contrast) has done something heroic, but allows for human mistakes and misgivings, in a word imperfections or the right to be just a regular person who has done something extraordinary.

However, to meet a hero in person does give one pause. Not because you ascribe superhuman traits to them, but because you know they have been through something extraordinary, whether wonderful or horrific, and you don’t want to upset them or embarrass yourself by saying something stupid or insensitive.

It was against that backdrop that I met Sandy and Lonnie Phillips last night at an event in downtown Houston. Their beautiful daughter, Jessi, was murdered at the Aurora theater shooting on July 20, 2012. Sandy and Lonnie were in town for a call to action and fundraiser for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the grassroots organization started in a kitchen in Indianapolis, IN following the murder of twenty schoolchildren and six educators on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, CT.

Proving that there is a difference between the mythology attributed to idols and the humanization of heroes, right off the bat, both Lonnie and Sandy made it aware to me that they were regular, genuine, gracious people. In fact, when Sandy hugged me at the restaurant where we were to have dinner, she told me she was sorry for my loss. Here I was, ready to give my condolences on the loss of her daughter and she was consoling me on the loss of my wife. And instantly we bonded over our losses. At dinner we talked gun violence prevention, her hope to speak with Senator Sanders regarding his position on the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” (PLCAA) allowing gun manufacturers product liability protection afforded no other product in America, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the NRA and the power they wield over politicians. We also talked about how the upcoming holidays are always a difficult time and how she and Lonnie will be going away again this year to regroup and recharge. Of course, this came up after she asked me what I was doing with the kids and I told her we were going away because none of us wanted to deal with the holidays.

It is the true character of an individual when they can bond with you over something big or small placing you on equal footing. My apprehension over meeting Sandy and Lonnie was misplaced. Both of them are wonderful, ordinary people thrown into a situation they did not choose and who have dedicated their lives to work so that no other parent has to walk the path they have been forced to tread.

In front of a group of about 50 women from the greater Houston area, Sandy and Lonnie described the horror of July 20, 2012 in visceral terms leaving no dry eye in the room. She answered questions and followed it with an amazing statement about how while she is forced to walk this path, she is lifted emotionally by the efforts of those who have come to this movement of their own accord and desire to make America a safer place. This was her call to action and the response from the room was immediate. By the end of the night over $10,000 had been raised and people were encouraged to join Moms Demand Action to do whatever they were comfortable doing knowing that the combined efforts of the organization brought a 3.5 million member counterbalance to the powerful, but aging, NRA and a vocal juggernaut to the halls of Washington, D.C. and statehouses across the country. I am proud to now call her a friend and stand ready to do whatever I can to help make her path even slightly easier.

Jessi’s mom is a genuine, ordinary woman responsible for carrying her daughter’s legacy and message forward while working every day toward a future where no other mother has to endure what she has been forced to live with. That’s what makes her a hero and Jessi should be proud.

Obsequious

October 7, 2015 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

Five days after the horrific shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon and President Obama’s angry response, the governor of Texas tweeted the following message on his personal Twitter feed:

Isn’t he cool? Aren’t Texans just total badass? Or is he publicly pandering to his NRA overlords, keeping his A-rating and victim blaming? Let’s take these in order.

Abbott has a long history of currying favor from the gun-rights crowd, even going so far as to say that he would sign any gun right legislation passed by the legislature. I guess that makes him cool. Here is a copy of him on the cover of Texas Monthly. Cool.

Texans are badasses. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Texas ranks in the middle for gun deaths per capita in America (10.4/100,000) and has seen its share of both horrific mass shootings and accidents involving children over the past year. When taken as a whole, the entire South suffers as some of the highest ranking members of the gun deaths per capita club. In fact, every state south of Virginia ranks higher than the national average (10.4/100,000). I wonder if the old phrase “southern hospitality” shouldn’t be replaced with “southern hostility.”

Abbott routinely tags his tweets with the NRA hashtag. As AG, Abbott played host to the annual NRA paranoia jamboree in Houston. He signed open carry and campus carry into law at a gun range (isn’t he cool?) on the same day as a gunman opened fire on the Dallas Police HQ leading to this ironic juxtaposition on a news website:

So it should come as no surprise that Abbott blames the victims for their injuries and deaths, conveniently ignoring the fact that there were students carrying concealed who chose to wait for the police to intervene rather than embrace the “good guy with a gun” myth.

Abbott and his views will be shown, in time, to be anachronistic and wrong. For now he is just obsequious and endangering his constituents. Keep cashing the checks, Governor.

Comfort for Aurora

May 1, 2015 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

“In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the memory of my young friend, and your brave and early fallen child.” Abraham Lincoln, May 25, 1861 in a letter of condolence to the parents of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth

I did not know Jessica Ghawi, Alex Teves, Alex Sullivan or any of the other nine victims murdered in the horrific July 20, 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” I do not know any of the 70 people who were injured that night and survived. But as an advocate for gun violence prevention, Jessica, Alex, Alex and many others have become my (forever young) friends. It is because of them that we work for a safer future so others are not sacrificed on America’s insane firearms alters.

The trial for the monster responsible for this all too familiar, American-centric, gun-related carnage is underway in Colorado and I find there is no way to accurately or compassionately convey my love to the survivors, their families, or the families of those murdered without sounding as if I can possibly understand their grief, pain, suffering, loss, anger… even this list seems somehow presumptuous. To those strong enough and compelled to attend the daily court proceedings, this list of presumptions must also include: the ability to sit in the same room with such a monster, knowing that he is attempting to “game” the jurisprudence of Colorado with his “superior” intellect, and the self-control and commitment to a civilized society not to throttle him when he lifts his veil of innocence whenever the jury is not in chambers. Cameras are everywhere.

It is, therefore, ironic that I find the most reflective and appropriate comments in the haunting words of one who would himself later become the victim of gun violence. In a letter dated Nov. 21, 1864, President Lincoln wrote to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, a mother who it was believed had lost five sons in the Civil War. He wrote:

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.

And so, with these borrowed words, please let the victims and their families know that I am thinking of them, grieve for them, honor their children and don’t presume to understand their pain. I haven’t the right words. Allow Lincoln’s to carry my comforts.

Aaron’s Wishes for 2015

December 29, 2014 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

December 18, 2014

Hello. My name is Aaron. I am six years old. I am a second grade student in Miss Vasquez’s second grade class at John F. Kennedy Elementary School. Our class has been cutting out newspaper headlines all year and last week we had to go up to the board with each headline and put it under one of the headings we had created. When we were done, we had many headings, but only a few had lots of headlines under them. The heading with the most headlines under it was Fear. Under this heading we had headlines like Ebola, the shooting in Ferguson, the chokehold death in New York City, the police protests, the midterm elections, the open carry marches in Texas and the Bundy ranch standoff.

December 29, 2014

Fear is a paralyzing emotion and emotions are amazing things, but they cannot be the sole basis upon which decisions are made. For example, my mother’s grief often manifests itself in her binge eating, and while it may feel good enough in the moment, I’m sure you will agree that a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food does not a meal make. Nor does letting a dozen casseroles spoil in the refrigerator because she’s “not hungry” qualify as taking care of herself.

My wishes for 2015 are for fear to give way to reason, for paranoia to give way to compassion and for hatred to give way to understanding. These are my wishes because I am six years old and I will always be six years old. I will always be six years old because our neighbor gave in to fear and bought a gun and accidentally shot at his daughter when she came home late last week. Thankfully, he missed her, but there is a hole in my head where my right eye used to be and tomorrow morning Mommy will bury me.

James Brady

August 4, 2014 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ 2 Comments

spotlight-image-1 James Brady died today.

For those too young to remember, Mr. Brady was President Reagan’s White House Press Secretary.

On Monday, March 30, 1981, only 69 days into his presidency, a disturbed young man fired a $12.95 revolver six times in 1.7 seconds. One of his “Devastator”-brand bullets, designed to explode on impact struck Mr. Brady above the left eye and detonated inside his skull. Another round struck the president under his armpit. Fortunately, the president recovered, but Mr. Brady suffered a horrible head wound and was left partially paralyzed and bound to his wheelchair for the rest of his life. Mr. Brady died today. Not every gun violence victim dies at the scene and the story never ends when the smoke clears.

In 1985, Sarah Brady joined the gun control movement, rising to chair The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in 1991. However, it was not her husband’s shooting that got Mrs. Brady involved. To quote her:

“Most people think I got seriously involved in the gun violence issue when Jim was shot. But it was actually another incident that started my active participation with gun violence prevention efforts.

It was back in the summer of 1985. Our family was visiting Jim’s hometown, Centralia, Illinois. At that time, our son Scott was just six years old. We had some friends who owned a construction company and they had a lovely home at the edge of town that had a swimming pool.

One day, our friend and an employee stopped by in a company pickup truck and asked if Scott and I would like to go out to the house for a swim. We thought that was a great idea. Scott got in first, and I climbed in behind him. He picked up off the seat what looked like a toy gun, and started waving it around, and I thought this was a perfect chance to talk to him about safety. So I took the little gun from him, intending to say he must never point even a toy gun at anyone.

As soon as I got it into my hand, I realized it was no toy. It was a fully-loaded Saturday-night special, very much like the one that had shot Jim. I cannot even begin to describe the rage that went through me. To think that my precious little boy had come so close to tragedy.

From that day on, I decided that much more needed to be done to help keep children safe from guns. And since that time, I have fought against the gun lobby and anyone else who wants guns “anywhere, at any time for any one.”

Forty-three different men have risen to become president of the United States. Four of them have been shot to death. Two more have been wounded by gunfire and five more were shot at, but the assassin missed. That’s eleven out of 43. As president, you have a better than 25% chance of being shot at, shot and wounded or shot and killed. And this is a person protected by the best trained, best equipped individuals in the world.

Gun violence takes a crushing toll on surviving victims, family members (turned caregivers), friends, lost opportunities, lifelong pain, PTSD, massive medical bills and countless dreams left shattered on countless days of life’s calendar.

Mr. and Mrs. Brady did not ask for this route, but they cut a path through a dangerous, well defended forest and paved the way for the rest of us to forge a better tomorrow where dreams do not explode with a bullet’s impact. Mr. Brady died today, but their work continues.

Today’s Assignment

July 24, 2014 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

Your assignment today is to watch two videos and then think.

The first video is of a group of people openly carrying their long guns in order to “support the second amendment.” Listen to their words. Ask yourself if this seems either reasonable in a civilized society or in any way appropriate. Consider that it was filmed on the Grassy Knoll in Dealey Plaza in Dallas Texas. That’s right! Celebrating guns at the sight where an American president was shot to death. If only President Kennedy had been carrying a gun… Oscar Wilde said it best, “Irony is wasted on the stupid.”

In a copy of the speech President Kennedy never lived to deliver to the Trade Council on November 22, 1963 are written the following lines:

“In a world of complex and continuing problems, in a world full of frustrations and irritations, America’s leadership must be guided by the lights of learning and reason — or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain the popular ascendancy with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem.”

How often do we hear the illogical argument for supporting the second amendment above all others as “the second protects all the others”? Philosophers have summarized this disconnect between correlation and causation as post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this). Soren Kierkegaard summarized it a bit differently when he wrote, “People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” George Carlin described it a bit differently when he said, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”

The second video is from a commentator for the NRA, Billy Johnson, who tries to come across as an intelligent hipster and only succeeds in coming across as a demented, illogical apologist. Essentially, everything John Green is not. He somehow equates a government’s subsidizing that which it considers valuable (education, healthcare, food, retirement) as a reason for allowing citizen access to government owned shooting ranges and a yearly allotment of government supplied ammunition. This is the same group that fears governmental overreach and registration of guns, but please, sir, may I have another round?

He touts “Gun Required Zones” instead of Gun Free Zones. We have those already! They are called war zones. Enlist! Have at it. Take your pick. There are always conflicts into which you can insert yourself and your huggy-huggy-boom-boom stick. And the government will give you unlimited ammunition!

Perhaps most disturbing (it’s like ranking the aroma of various feces samples), is his notion that we should not only make firearm training mandatory in school, but that sufficiency be the basis for grade advancement. At a time in our history when we are being outsmarted in math and science by many areas of the world, rather than mandate education, Johnson suggests we dilute an already watery system to “readin’, writin’ and riflin’.” I would point him to Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn’s quote, “It’s an universal law– intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.” Or to Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Or to Bertrand Russell who said, “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” Or to Benjamin Franklin who wrote, “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” Or to William Shakespeare who wrote, “A knavish speech sleeps in a fool’s ear.”

Your homework is due by the end of the day.

Tick, Tock, Glock

July 23, 2014 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ 2 Comments

Enough

According to the Brady Campaign, on average, for the five most recently available years for which statistics are available, every day in America there are:

291 people in America are shot (including 52 children (ages 0-19)

87 people die from gun violence:

32 are murdered (including 6 children)

51 kill themselves (including 2 children)

2 die unintentionally

1 is killed by police intervention

1, intent unknown

205 are shot and survive:

148 shot in an assault (including 34 children)

10 survive a suicide attempt (including 1 child)

45 are shot unintentionally (including 9 children)

2 are shot in a police intervention

If we take these numbers and divide them equally over the course of a day, this is an average day in America:

Time Event

12:00 AM 1st Shooting by Police intervention, person survives

12:10 AM 1st Assault Shooting, person survives

12:20 AM 2nd Assault Shooting, person survives

12:28 AM 1st Suicide Death with a gun

12:30 AM 3rd Assault Shooting, person survives

12:32 AM 1st Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

12:40 AM 4th Assault Shooting, 1st Child, survives

12:45 AM 1st Murder with a gun

12:50 AM 5th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:56 AM 2nd Suicide Death with a gun

1:00 AM 6th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:04 AM 2nd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

1:10 AM 7th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:20 AM 8th Assault Shooting, 2nd Child, survives

1:24 AM 3rd Suicide Death with a gun

1:30 AM 2nd Murder with a gun; 9th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:36 AM 3rd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

1:40 AM 10th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:50 AM 11th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:52 AM 4th Suicide Death with a gun

2:00 AM 12th Assault Shooting, 3rd Child, survives

2:08 AM 4th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

2:10 AM 13th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:15 AM 3rd Murder with a gun

2:20 AM 5th Suicide Death with a gun; 14th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:24 AM 1st Suicide Attempt with a gun

2:30 AM 15th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:40 AM 5th Accidental Shooting Injury, 1st Child, survives; 16th Assault Shooting, 4th Child, survives

2:48 AM 6th Suicide Death with a gun

2:50 AM 17th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:00 AM 4th Murder with a gun; 18th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:10 AM 19th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:12 AM 6th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

3:16 AM 7th Suicide Death with a gun

3:20 AM 20th Assault Shooting, 5th Child, survives

3:30 AM 21st Assault Shooting, person survives

3:40 AM 22nd Assault Shooting, person survives

3:44 AM 8th Suicide Death with a gun; 7th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

3:45 AM 5th Murder with a gun

3:50 AM 23rd Assault Shooting, person survives

4:00 AM 24th Assault Shooting, 6th Child, survives

4:10 AM 25th Assault Shooting, person survives

4:12 AM 9th Suicide Death with a gun

4:16 AM 8th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

4:20 AM 26th Assault Shooting, person survives

4:30 AM 6th Murder with a gun, 1st Child; 27th Assault Shooting, person survives

4:40 AM 10th Suicide Death with a gun; 28th Assault Shooting, 7th Child, survives

4:48 AM 2nd Suicide Attempt with a gun; 9th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

4:50 AM 29th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:00 AM 30th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:08 AM 11th Suicide Death with a gun

5:10 AM 31st Assault Shooting, person survives

5:15 AM 7th Murder with a gun

5:20 AM 10th Accidental Shooting Injury, 2nd Child, survives; 32nd Assault Shooting, 8th Child, survives

5:30 AM 33rd Assault Shooting, person survives

5:36 AM 12th Suicide Death with a gun

5:40 AM 34th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:50 AM 35th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:52 AM 11th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

6:00 AM 8th Murder with a gun; 36th Assault Shooting, 9th Child, survives

6:01 AM 37th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:04 AM 13th Suicide Death with a gun

6:10 AM 38th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:20 AM 39th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:24 AM 12th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

6:30 AM 40th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:32 AM 14th Suicide Death with a gun

6:40 AM 41st Assault Shooting, 10th Child, survives

6:45 AM 9th Murder with a gun

6:50 AM 42nd Assault Shooting, person survives

6:56 AM 13th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

7:00 AM 15th Suicide Death with a gun; 43rd Assault Shooting, person survives

7:10 AM 44th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:12 AM 3rd Suicide Attempt with a gun

7:20 AM 45th Assault Shooting, 11th Child, survives

7:28 AM 16th Suicide Death with a gun; 14th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

7:30 AM 10th Murder with a gun; 46th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:40 AM 47th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:50 AM 48th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:56 AM 17th Suicide Death with a gun

8:00 AM 15th Accidental Shooting Injury, 3rd Child, survives; 49th Assault Shooting, 12th Child, survives

8:10 AM 50th Assault Shooting, person survives

8:15 AM 11th Murder with a gun, 2nd Child

8:20 AM 51st Assault Shooting, person survives

8:24 AM 18th Suicide Death with a gun

8:30 AM 52nd Assault Shooting, person survives

8:32 AM 16th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

8:40 AM 53rd Assault Shooting, 13th Child, survives

8:50 AM 54th Assault Shooting, person survives

8:52 AM 19th Suicide Death with a gun

9:00 AM 12th Murder with a gun; 55th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:04 AM 17th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

9:10 AM 56th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:20 AM 20th Suicide Death with a gun; 57th Assault Shooting, 14th Child, survives

9:30 AM 58th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:36 AM 4th Suicide Attempt with a gun; 18th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

9:40 AM 59th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:45 AM 13th Murder with a gun

9:48 AM 21st Suicide Death with a gun

9:50 AM 60th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:00 AM 61st Assault Shooting, 15th Child, survives

10:08 AM 19th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

10:10 AM 62nd Assault Shooting, person survives

10:16 AM 22nd Suicide Death with a gun

10:20 AM 63rd Assault Shooting, person survives

10:30 AM 14th Murder with a gun; 64th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:40 AM 20th Accidental Shooting Injury, 4th Child, survives; 65th Assault Shooting, 16th Child, survives

10:44 AM 23rd Suicide Death with a gun

10:50 AM 66th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:00 AM 67th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:10 AM 68th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:12 AM 24th Suicide Death with a gun; 21st Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

11:15 AM 15th Murder with a gun

11:20 AM 69th Assault Shooting, 17th Child, survives

11:30 AM 70th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:40 AM 25th Suicide Death with a gun, 1st Child; 71st Assault Shooting, person survives

11:44 AM 22nd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

11:50 AM 72nd Assault Shooting, person survives

11:59 AM 147th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:00 PM 16th Murder with a gun, 3rd Child; 1st Accidental Shooting Death; 1st Death by Police intervention; 1st Death, intent unknown; 73rd Assault Shooting, 18th Child, survives; 5th Suicide Attempt with a gun, 1st Child; 2nd Shooting by Police intervention, survives

12:01 PM 74th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:08 PM 26th Suicide Death with a gun

12:10 PM 75th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:16 PM 23rd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

12:20 PM 76th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:30 PM 77th Assault Shooting, person survives

12:36 PM 27th Suicide Death with a gun

12:40 PM 78th Assault Shooting, 19th Child, survives

12:45 PM 17th Murder with a gun

12:48 PM 24th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

12:50 PM 79th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:00 PM 80th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:04 PM 28th Suicide Death with a gun

1:10 PM 81st Assault Shooting, person survives

1:20 PM 25th Accidental Shooting Injury, 5th Child, survives; 82nd Assault Shooting, 20th Child, survives

1:30 PM 18th Murder with a gun; 83rd Assault Shooting, person survives

1:32 PM 29th Suicide Death with a gun

1:40 PM 84th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:50 PM 85th Assault Shooting, person survives

1:52 PM 26th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

2:00 PM 30th Suicide Death with a gun; 86th Assault Shooting, 21st Child, survives

2:10 PM 87th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:15 PM 19th Murder with a gun

2:20 PM 88th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:24 PM 6th Suicide Attempt with a gun; 27th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

2:28 PM 31st Suicide Death with a gun

2:30 PM 89th Assault Shooting, person survives

2:40 PM 90th Assault Shooting, 22nd Child, survives

2:50 PM 91st Assault Shooting, person survives

2:56 PM 32nd Suicide Death with a gun; 28th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

3:00 PM 20th Murder with a gun; 92nd Assault Shooting, person survives

3:10 PM 93rd Assault Shooting, person survives

3:20 PM 94th Assault Shooting, 23rd Child, survives

3:24 PM 33rd Suicide Death with a gun

3:28 PM 29th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

3:30 PM 95th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:40 PM 96th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:45 PM 21st Murder with a gun, 4th Child

3:50 PM 97th Assault Shooting, person survives

3:52 PM 34th Suicide Death with a gun

4:00 PM 30th Accidental Shooting Injury, 6th Child, survives; 98th Assault Shooting, 24th Child, survives

4:10 PM 99th Assault Shooting, person survives

4:20 PM 35th Suicide Death with a gun; 100th Assault Shooting, person survives

4:30 PM 22nd Murder with a gun; 101st Assault Shooting, person survives

4:32 PM 31st Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

4:40 PM 102nd Assault Shooting, 25th Child, survives

4:48 PM 36th Suicide Death with a gun; 7th Suicide Attempt with a gun

4:50 PM 103rd Assault Shooting, person survives

5:00 PM 104th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:04 PM 32nd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

5:10 PM 105th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:15 PM 23rd Murder with a gun

5:16 PM 37th Suicide Death with a gun

5:20 PM 106th Assault Shooting, 26th Child, survives

5:30 PM 107th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:36 PM 33rd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

5:40 PM 108th Assault Shooting, person survives

5:44 PM 38th Suicide Death with a gun

5:50 PM 109th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:00 PM 24th Murder with a gun; 110th Assault Shooting, 27th Child, survives

6:01 PM 111th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:08 PM 34th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

6:10 PM 112th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:12 PM 39th Suicide Death with a gun

6:20 PM 113th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:30 PM 114th Assault Shooting, person survives

6:40 PM 40th Suicide Death with a gun; 35th Accidental Shooting Injury, 7th Child, survives; 115th Assault Shooting, 28th Child, survives

6:45 PM 25th Murder with a gun

6:50 PM 116th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:00 PM 117th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:08 PM 41st Suicide Death with a gun

7:10 PM 118th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:12 PM 8th Suicide Attempt with a gun; 36th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

7:20 PM 119th Assault Shooting, 29th Child, survives

7:30 PM 26th Murder with a gun, 5th Child; 120th Assault Shooting, person survives

7:36 PM 42nd Suicide Death with a gun

7:40 PM 121st Assault Shooting, person survives

7:44 PM 37th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

7:50 PM 122nd Assault Shooting, person survives

8:00 PM 123rd Assault Shooting, 30th Child, survives

8:04 PM 43rd Suicide Death with a gun

8:10 PM 124th Assault Shooting, person survives

8:15 PM 27th Murder with a gun

8:16 PM 38th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

8:20 PM 125th Assault Shooting, person survives

8:30 PM 126th Assault Shooting, person survives

8:32 PM 44th Suicide Death with a gun

8:40 PM 127th Assault Shooting, 31st Child, survives

8:48 PM 39th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

8:50 PM 128th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:00 PM 28th Murder with a gun; 45th Suicide Death with a gun; 129th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:10 PM 130th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:20 PM 40th Accidental Shooting Injury, 8th Child, survives; 131st Assault Shooting, 32nd Child, survives

9:28 PM 46th Suicide Death with a gun

9:30 PM 132nd Assault Shooting, person survives

9:36 PM 9th Suicide Attempt with a gun

9:40 PM 133rd Assault Shooting, person survives

9:45 PM 29th Murder with a gun

9:50 PM 134th Assault Shooting, person survives

9:52 PM 41st Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

9:56 PM 47th Suicide Death with a gun

10:00 PM 135th Assault Shooting, 33rd Child, survives

10:10 PM 136th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:20 PM 137th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:24 PM 48th Suicide Death with a gun; 42nd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

10:30 PM 30th Murder with a gun; 138th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:40 PM 139th Assault Shooting, 34th Child, survives

10:50 PM 140th Assault Shooting, person survives

10:52 PM 49th Suicide Death with a gun

10:56 PM 43rd Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

11:00 PM 141st Assault Shooting, person survives

11:10 PM 142nd Assault Shooting, person survives

11:15 PM 31st Murder with a gun, 6th Child

11:20 PM 50th Suicide Death with a gun; 143rd Assault Shooting, person survives

11:28 PM 44th Accidental Shooting Injury, person survives

11:30 PM 144th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:40 PM 145th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:48 PM 51st Suicide Death with a gun, 2nd Child

11:50 PM 146th Assault Shooting, person survives

11:59 PM 32nd Murder with a gun; 2nd Accidental Shooting Death; 10th Suicide Attempt with a gun; 45th Accidental Shooting Injury, 9th Child, survives; 148th Assault Shooting, person survives

Now repeat this, every day, until enough of us demand a better society.

My Inspiration

July 20, 2014July 23, 2014 ~ thoughtsatlarge ~ Leave a comment

Inspiration

Christopher Hitchens wrote, “To the dumb question “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?” This little blog started as a way for me to scream into deaf space when news events or personal experiences left me no other options; when nothing could mute the chest-tightening anger and helplessness I felt; when, as Shakespeare wrote, I bothered to complain “and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries.” And so, I write. My first malediction was two years ago today. However, they were not so much my words but a reposting of the words written 45 days earlier by a young woman in Colorado. She wrote of the events she experienced at the Eaton Mall in Toronto on June 2, 2012 when a gunman (sorry NRA, he was a gunman (whom I refuse to name), not a perpetrator with some random weapon) opened fire in the Urban Eatery Food Court. Five people were shot, two died. She began:

“I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.”

She continued by showing how, in three minutes, a decision to go out into the rain saved her life.

“My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn’t the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn’t have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rang out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would’ve been in the midst of gunfire.”

That eloquent, insightful young woman was named Jessica Redfield and she was murdered two years ago today in the theater shooting in Aurora, CO. She and eleven others were killed and 70 others were injured that horrible Friday night. She is gone, but she continues to inspire. Since that time, her mother and thousands of others, many accidental activists driven to act after the horrors visited upon Aurora, CO or Newtown, CT or Oak Creek, WI or Santa Barbara, CA or Washington, D.C. or Spring, TX or any of the other tragedies that take 30,000 people a year. They have started a movement that will not only change the face of America, but make it a safer nation. It will not happen quickly (nor soon enough), but it will happen. Initially only disjointed lamentations from thousands of individuals, they have begun to coalesce into a united voice, a voice determined to prevent the next tragedy, a voice which has a goal of Not One More.

Consider the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Begun in 1980 by one mother, Candy Lightner, after her 13 year old daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver, it has gone on to become a national institution in activism with over 600 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. MADD has worked to enact zero tolerance legislation across the country, enacted 0.08 blood alcohol level laws nationally, is partially responsible for a 40% reduction in drunk driving attributed traffic deaths since 1982 and brought the term “designated driver” into the public lexicon.

Using MADD as a framework and appreciating the need to commit time, dedication, and effort for the long haul, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was founded the day after Sandy Hook. And if MADD felt hampered by the strong alcohol beverage lobby, Moms Demand Action knew they were up against the behemoth of all lobbyists, the NRA. When asked to explain their activism success, MADD provides a series of critical tenets, foremost among them having passionate, committed volunteers and putting a face on statistics. As MADD writes:

“Before 1980, drunk driving deaths and injuries were spoken about in terms of cold, hard statistics—a tactic that was having little, if any, impact on reducing the number of deaths and injuries due to alcohol related crashes. But MADD didn’t speak of statistics. MADD spoke of loved ones, family members and friends—an intensely personal communication style that started with the organization’s charismatic founder and continues today. Every death, every injury is given a face, family and history— personalizing the issue so that everyone can relate, even those who have never experienced the tragedy of drunk driving.”

Because statistics can be found to support almost any position, especially with the gun rights crowd continuing to fund discredited economist John Lott (or should we call him Mary Rosh?) and his specious data, we are reminded of the phrase attributed to Mark Twain, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” To counter this, gun violence groups, like Moms Demand Action, have combined the top two pillars of successful activism, according to MADD, by having passionate volunteers share the stories behind the statistics. As shown by MADD, it is a formula for success and a roadmap showing not only what can be accomplished but how long the path may take. No matter, the determination of these activists knows no limit because their well of compassion has no bottom.

Moms Demand Action has also tried to harness the power of social media to not only get out its message, but to affect change. They have seen this strategy beget success. However, personally I have all but given up on Twitter as a means of communicating having lost interest in attempting to conduct a rationale discourse with people responding in 140 character bursts of bizarre thought. More often than not, I find myself descending into a miasma with some troll and their obtuse paranoia and misogynistic vitriol into a spiraling Dante-esque hell with no Beatrice to lead me out. There is never any discourse (or room for movement) and the inevitable name calling is wholly a waste of time. So, too, it is with so many of the comment sections of news websites and Facebook pages. What begins as a thoughtful comment soon falls victim to the lowest common denominator of society, the base, violent name calling and misspelled threats. I can’t imagine the mail received at the White House.

Politicians understand polls and chase donations. To acknowledge this is to understand the rules required to bring about societal change. While a new Quinnipiac poll shows 92% of voters support requiring background checks for all gun purchases (including 92% of gun owners) and 89% of voters support preventing people with severe mental illnesses from purchasing guns (including 91% of gun owners) this poll also shows that words matter. Assistant Director, Tim Malloy stated of the poll,

“Americans are all in on stricter background checks on gun buyers and on keeping weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill. But when it comes to ‘stricter gun control,’ three words which prompt a negative reflex, almost half of those surveyed say ‘hands off.'”

In a fascinating series of articles in Rolling Stone, Tim Dickinson wrote of 7 (not-so-easy) steps to beat the NRA. To me, most importantly (and something about which I have previously written) is the need to assimilate the various gun violence prevention groups into a unified voice capable, in terms of membership and funding, to compete on Capital Hill, in state politics, against the gun lobby and for the conscience of the public. This has now begun to happen. Recently, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have come together under the Michael Bloomberg funded umbrella Everytown for Gun Safety. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Americans for Responsible Solutions, the Newtown Action Alliance and others, including the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and It Can Happen Here continue their important work independently. There are economies of scale available to this movement which may be necessary to influence elected officials. It is unfortunate, but money talks in Washington and in state houses across America. It is a tactic successfully used by the gun lobby for decades and a resolution gun violence prevention groups must embrace.

Words matter. We are castigated for using the term magazine when we mean clip (or vice versa) and are constantly asked to define “assault rifle” (as if we invented it and it were not a term gun makers created so the average Joe could pretend he was G.I. Joe). Words matter, but so too can they inspire! Jessica Redfield continued in her post saying

“I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening. I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.”

Every hug from a family member is precious. So tune out the static of the conspiracy theorists, the angry trolls, the paranoid “patriots,” the delusions of the “false flag” crowd, and the AM radio troglodytes. Instead, read as much as you can. Learn the subtle nuances of these issues and find the inspiration left to us by others. A cruise ship steaming at full speed will take over half a mile to stop after the engines have been reversed. But it will stop. So, too, will we change America and in the process, save lives. Over these past two years I have met some amazing people. People who would rather be doing other things with their lives but who have had their futures permanently altered by gun violence. Visit these pages for more information on how you can remember the events of two years ago today and, perhaps, find your inspiration:

Jessica Redfield Ghawi Foundation Scholarship Fund

ACT Foundation – Alexander C Teves Foundation

Alex Sullivan Fund

Although I never met her, Jessica continues to inspire me.