Reading your story of the Canadian mom who was worried for her son’s safety immediately brought to mind a similar experience I had a year ago. As a volunteer math tutor through a local community college for people working to get their high school completion and an English tutor through the Catherine McAuley Center here in Cedar Rapids, I have the opportunity and privilege to work with people from other cultures & countries. During one of my math sessions with a young man who had come here legally from southern Mexico a few years ago, he shared that he was hoping his sister could come up for a visit soon. Their father was against it because he worried about all of the violence in this country. It was a bit jarring to hear of someone from a country that is sometimes viewed as corrupt and violent to fear for his daughter's safety if she came here. We like to think of ourselves as “Midwest nice” but, indeed, there are shootings on a regular basis in all parts of the country including here in Iowa. How can we blame someone for being frightened of this place? Yes, I’ve contacted my representative about the issues you mentioned. I often feel like it’s a lost cause. Thank you for your reminder to keep adding drops to that bucket.
When I used to live in Upstate New York, legislators had to listen to all voices because the rural areas were more conservative by small margins. Here in rural Wisconsin our republican senator (R Johnson) and congressman Brian Steil appear to be completely uninterested in any meaningful gun control measures because their re-elections are virtually guaranteed. Extremely sad.
I am a gun owner, and I own a half-dozen of the "assault" weapons that we hear about so much. The American political landscape is tragic. The barrier to owning such weapons should be much more rigorous. Annual training and psychological screenings would make a world of difference and the culture would change over time.
The "assault" moniker is not helpful, nor is the "high-capacity" magazines argument. As a veteran of the Army and Marine Corps, intent is the only thing that matters. If you put a process in place that screens out murderous, offensive intent, you eliminate 99 out of 100 tragedies that involve firearms.
Nationally, we are unwilling to have a rational conversation about firearms. We have become polarized between all or nothing and both sides are deaf as a result. We argue about state's rights and statistics and completely ignore the simple solution of a national standard that requires a higher barrier to entry for gun ownership.
All you need to know about the current dysfunction is writ in the law that prohibits scientific research on gun violence at the federal level. Guns are a problem, but dysfunctional governance is a far bigger problem.
First of all, I want to acknowledge Carrie’s post, and I feel the same though the physical symptoms this week have tortured me (queasy stomach, no appetite and abnormal digestion, yes, I am seeing a Dr) and my anger has soared and my sadness for my grandchildren increased. I am going to apologize in advance for the language in the link I will provide. This is Politics Girl, she speaks to me. Carrie, I will not be offended if you feel you need to remove it. We MUST vote them out. I hope the Fox News case shows how many lies have been fed to people who chose/wanted to believe them. They may have wanted them to be true, they may have chosen to believe them but THEY ARE NOT TRUE. We can and should help register Gen Z voters. They are coming of voting age 1m per year... attrition is slow. Teach young people critical thinking by asking them questions. Any question! And then, how did they think that? When people question how they think they are thinking critically. It looks like Palm Sunday. Many blessings 💐
I understand how and why you feel that way. I found myself in that spot in 2000. Digging deeper I discovered they (and by “they” I mean BOTH parties) have effectively set it up so that no third party can succeed. So. Where does that leave us? Civil war ... which would decimate any sense of security and continuity, as well as reduce our population and leave us open to international attacks. Or... fight it from the inside. Advocate for ranked choice voting. This has the potential to eliminate the two party system, expand the field and make it easier to find a candidate who most closely aligns with your views. The progressives are making headway in the Democratic Party. Democratic leadership may not like it, but the more who vote for them, like it or not, the more will run and be elected. Attrition. It’s slow, but possible. As Beau(of the Fifth Column) likes to say, on a long enough timeline, we win.
Well said, Carrie. I do wonder where we can achieve that tipping point that allows people to acknowledge the obvious. What we have is not working. Legislators loyal to their own "pac" aren't serving us as a nation.
Well said Carrie! “It just takes one voice for others to join in the song”. Hopefully others will join in with you and make a difference.
Another perspective from a Canadian, I agree with the mother of the Canadian musician you spoke of. It’s very worrisome and scary to hear of mass shootings anywhere, but unfortunately more are heard of in the US than here. I want to be thankful that my daughter is safe being past the elementary and secondary school age but it can still happen at the college and university level which she is currently attending. Sadly just this past week in my home city there was a social media threat of a potential mass shooting going to happen at the high schools in my area. Many parents kept their children home the day of the threat for safety including elementary children. I am thankful nothing happened and two 13 year olds were caught putting the threat out as a “joke”. That was just too close to home for my comfort. Thankfully mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989. Before the Nova Scotia rampage, that had been the country's worst in April 2020. Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been trying to tackle gun violence through measures introduced after the Nova Scotia shooting, including a handgun freeze announced last year. This is something the US legislature needs to take action on and now just like we have. Nip it in the butt as we say. It will eventually happen, starting with one voice and we here in Canada hear your voice Carrie and hope and pray that it will make a difference. We want our neighbour's and friends on the other side of the border to feel safer too.
Carrie you said all the right things! I just don't understand why NONE of the elected officials will do what the MAJORITY of their constituents want! And yet they are continually re-elected! What are they so afraid of? Why won't anyone stand up to these ultra right people? They keep making enough noise, telling lies, lies and more lies. Why is there no noise in rebuttal? Why won't the center and left call them out on it? People will believe anything if you say it long enough, and they have. Maybe the other side needs to stand up and tell the truth long enough until they truly know the truth!
Very few elected officials have the moral character to turn down easy money in large amounts from the gun lobby and NRA. Money typically equals re-election and in my opinion so many people vote for the same party that they always have. They are more concerned with loyalty to their party than to the needs of innocent people.
Thank you Carrie for these important points and call to action. I appreciate your naming these as military weapons. I’ve been referring to them as “weapons of war” to make the point of their ease and ability to wage war against the innocents.
Thank you for your passionate plea. If there is a list of non profits, who are working to make gun control happen, could you pass along email connections where we could make donations. We need to support those who are working to make gun control happen! In addition perhaps we can join them to volunteer.
Unfortunately gun control groups like the Tom Brady org we contributed to for years, is powerless if we can't get state and federal legislators to enact and reinforce meaningful legislation. I agree supporting gun control groups is worthwhile to get the word out, but PLEASE also let your congress person, US senators and state reps know that you really want them to enact meaningful legislation.
Carrie, Your words resonate deeply with me. Your thoughts, stories speak to me. Many people want the gun laws changed. There is no place where automatic weapons belong.
I highly recommend your recent podcast with Parker Palmer and Scott Russell. There are people who care about humanity, unfortunately they are not our elected leaders.
Your voice and others like you hopefully will help us do better. ❤️🙏❤️
Fear is what makes nations build up an arsenal and it is fear that makes individuals build up an arsenal of their own. Gangs and organized crime also have an arsenal built up to put fear into businesses and people and their rivals. Lord help us have the courage to make changes to make more people safe and protect children.
Carrie: Here is my take on American gun violence: https://youtu.be/VchskLI_Ghs
Reading your story of the Canadian mom who was worried for her son’s safety immediately brought to mind a similar experience I had a year ago. As a volunteer math tutor through a local community college for people working to get their high school completion and an English tutor through the Catherine McAuley Center here in Cedar Rapids, I have the opportunity and privilege to work with people from other cultures & countries. During one of my math sessions with a young man who had come here legally from southern Mexico a few years ago, he shared that he was hoping his sister could come up for a visit soon. Their father was against it because he worried about all of the violence in this country. It was a bit jarring to hear of someone from a country that is sometimes viewed as corrupt and violent to fear for his daughter's safety if she came here. We like to think of ourselves as “Midwest nice” but, indeed, there are shootings on a regular basis in all parts of the country including here in Iowa. How can we blame someone for being frightened of this place? Yes, I’ve contacted my representative about the issues you mentioned. I often feel like it’s a lost cause. Thank you for your reminder to keep adding drops to that bucket.
Thank you for sharing. We cannot grow numb and we must be as vulnerable and unafraid to speak truth as ever. I live in Thailand. I am an American married to a Thai woman. The way Thai react to us is as if watching a dark comedic horror film. I also had to write about this. Have a read if you like. All blessings. https://open.substack.com/pub/gregorypettys/p/fuk-your-thoughts-and-prayers?r=f1gey&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
https://www.everytown.org/
Thanks Carrie. I’m on it.
When I used to live in Upstate New York, legislators had to listen to all voices because the rural areas were more conservative by small margins. Here in rural Wisconsin our republican senator (R Johnson) and congressman Brian Steil appear to be completely uninterested in any meaningful gun control measures because their re-elections are virtually guaranteed. Extremely sad.
I am a gun owner, and I own a half-dozen of the "assault" weapons that we hear about so much. The American political landscape is tragic. The barrier to owning such weapons should be much more rigorous. Annual training and psychological screenings would make a world of difference and the culture would change over time.
The "assault" moniker is not helpful, nor is the "high-capacity" magazines argument. As a veteran of the Army and Marine Corps, intent is the only thing that matters. If you put a process in place that screens out murderous, offensive intent, you eliminate 99 out of 100 tragedies that involve firearms.
Nationally, we are unwilling to have a rational conversation about firearms. We have become polarized between all or nothing and both sides are deaf as a result. We argue about state's rights and statistics and completely ignore the simple solution of a national standard that requires a higher barrier to entry for gun ownership.
All you need to know about the current dysfunction is writ in the law that prohibits scientific research on gun violence at the federal level. Guns are a problem, but dysfunctional governance is a far bigger problem.
The two-party system is an abomination.
*edited for typo
First of all, I want to acknowledge Carrie’s post, and I feel the same though the physical symptoms this week have tortured me (queasy stomach, no appetite and abnormal digestion, yes, I am seeing a Dr) and my anger has soared and my sadness for my grandchildren increased. I am going to apologize in advance for the language in the link I will provide. This is Politics Girl, she speaks to me. Carrie, I will not be offended if you feel you need to remove it. We MUST vote them out. I hope the Fox News case shows how many lies have been fed to people who chose/wanted to believe them. They may have wanted them to be true, they may have chosen to believe them but THEY ARE NOT TRUE. We can and should help register Gen Z voters. They are coming of voting age 1m per year... attrition is slow. Teach young people critical thinking by asking them questions. Any question! And then, how did they think that? When people question how they think they are thinking critically. It looks like Palm Sunday. Many blessings 💐
https://youtu.be/38vY04VNAys
I wish voting them out would work. I cannot imagine anything changing in any significant way without an end to the two-party system.
I understand how and why you feel that way. I found myself in that spot in 2000. Digging deeper I discovered they (and by “they” I mean BOTH parties) have effectively set it up so that no third party can succeed. So. Where does that leave us? Civil war ... which would decimate any sense of security and continuity, as well as reduce our population and leave us open to international attacks. Or... fight it from the inside. Advocate for ranked choice voting. This has the potential to eliminate the two party system, expand the field and make it easier to find a candidate who most closely aligns with your views. The progressives are making headway in the Democratic Party. Democratic leadership may not like it, but the more who vote for them, like it or not, the more will run and be elected. Attrition. It’s slow, but possible. As Beau(of the Fifth Column) likes to say, on a long enough timeline, we win.
Well said, Carrie. I do wonder where we can achieve that tipping point that allows people to acknowledge the obvious. What we have is not working. Legislators loyal to their own "pac" aren't serving us as a nation.
Well said Carrie! “It just takes one voice for others to join in the song”. Hopefully others will join in with you and make a difference.
Another perspective from a Canadian, I agree with the mother of the Canadian musician you spoke of. It’s very worrisome and scary to hear of mass shootings anywhere, but unfortunately more are heard of in the US than here. I want to be thankful that my daughter is safe being past the elementary and secondary school age but it can still happen at the college and university level which she is currently attending. Sadly just this past week in my home city there was a social media threat of a potential mass shooting going to happen at the high schools in my area. Many parents kept their children home the day of the threat for safety including elementary children. I am thankful nothing happened and two 13 year olds were caught putting the threat out as a “joke”. That was just too close to home for my comfort. Thankfully mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989. Before the Nova Scotia rampage, that had been the country's worst in April 2020. Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been trying to tackle gun violence through measures introduced after the Nova Scotia shooting, including a handgun freeze announced last year. This is something the US legislature needs to take action on and now just like we have. Nip it in the butt as we say. It will eventually happen, starting with one voice and we here in Canada hear your voice Carrie and hope and pray that it will make a difference. We want our neighbour's and friends on the other side of the border to feel safer too.
Thanks Carrie. Your voice means a lot!
Carrie you said all the right things! I just don't understand why NONE of the elected officials will do what the MAJORITY of their constituents want! And yet they are continually re-elected! What are they so afraid of? Why won't anyone stand up to these ultra right people? They keep making enough noise, telling lies, lies and more lies. Why is there no noise in rebuttal? Why won't the center and left call them out on it? People will believe anything if you say it long enough, and they have. Maybe the other side needs to stand up and tell the truth long enough until they truly know the truth!
Very few elected officials have the moral character to turn down easy money in large amounts from the gun lobby and NRA. Money typically equals re-election and in my opinion so many people vote for the same party that they always have. They are more concerned with loyalty to their party than to the needs of innocent people.
For those wanting to make a contribution to support efforts leading to gun control here is a link of non profits where you might give:
https://greatnonprofits.org/categories/view/gun-control
Thank you Carrie for these important points and call to action. I appreciate your naming these as military weapons. I’ve been referring to them as “weapons of war” to make the point of their ease and ability to wage war against the innocents.
Thank you for your passionate plea. If there is a list of non profits, who are working to make gun control happen, could you pass along email connections where we could make donations. We need to support those who are working to make gun control happen! In addition perhaps we can join them to volunteer.
Unfortunately gun control groups like the Tom Brady org we contributed to for years, is powerless if we can't get state and federal legislators to enact and reinforce meaningful legislation. I agree supporting gun control groups is worthwhile to get the word out, but PLEASE also let your congress person, US senators and state reps know that you really want them to enact meaningful legislation.
Moms Demand Action is a good one.
Carrie, Your words resonate deeply with me. Your thoughts, stories speak to me. Many people want the gun laws changed. There is no place where automatic weapons belong.
I highly recommend your recent podcast with Parker Palmer and Scott Russell. There are people who care about humanity, unfortunately they are not our elected leaders.
Your voice and others like you hopefully will help us do better. ❤️🙏❤️
Fear is what makes nations build up an arsenal and it is fear that makes individuals build up an arsenal of their own. Gangs and organized crime also have an arsenal built up to put fear into businesses and people and their rivals. Lord help us have the courage to make changes to make more people safe and protect children.
I appreciate your acknowledging it is a complex problem that needs a multipronged approach but that is extremely important