Sunday Snapshot: March For Their Lives
I joined thousands of protesters yesterday afternoon in San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza for the March For Our Lives rally. March For Our Lives is a grassroots political movement led by Parkland students demanding stricter gun control legislation be brought before Congress immediately.
“Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives. ”
It breaks my heart that kids have to live in a reality where a person wielding a gun and trying to kill them is a possibility in their classroom - where their biggest worry should be passing the math pop quiz. I'm shattered when I hear that my 8 year old niece was scared by the practice drill of huddling under her desk in order to be prepared for a shooter on a rampage in her school.
And the solution is to give teachers guns? Don't even get me started on that inane proposal with zero emotional intelligence. A couple of my best girlfriends are middle school teachers. Locking their classrooms is now procedure and a daily reminder that a shooting could happen on their campus. One friend is having nightmares about students brandishing guns, and the other has a mental short list of former students who she can imagine coming back for her. Teachers have, in my opinion, one of the most important jobs for the continued progression of our society. They should not have to deal with this bullshit.
I come by my dislike for guns honestly because I grew up in a gun-free zone. The neighborhood kids knew to leave their toy guns at the bottom of our long, steep driveway because my mom wouldn't allow them in our house. I've never wanted to play paint ball because the thought of pointing a gun and shooting someone, even with paint, feels wrong. I've never shot a BB gun at aluminum cans. I've never even seen a real gun.
That makes me ignorant too though because I've never attempted to understand gun culture and the beliefs and rituals associated with it. In an attempt to be open-minded and maybe remove a little bit of my deep-rooted fear of guns, I've asked a gun owner who I love and trust to take me to the shooting range. I don't know how I'll feel when I have that powerful machine in my hands, but I think it's time to experience it for myself so that I can say with first-hand knowledge that the right to bear arms is an outdated notion that has no place in our 21st century existence.