Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers. What is wrong with us?

I started reading a Yahoo article on this being the 1 year anniversary of the mass shooting in a Buffalo, NY grocery store.  There were 10 people killed and 3 injured in that shooting.  In the article there is a claim that in this country, this year, 2023, there have been 213 mass shootings.  What the hell?  This is only the 134th day of the year!  

The number of mass shootings comes from the Gun Violence Archive and they define a mass shooting as one in which 4 or more people are shot or killed.  Of course in 2022 they identified 647 mass shootings; so are we simply on track for a normal year?  They also claim 336 mass shootings in all of 2018 so that's quite a change in the past couple of years.  

One of the facts about the Buffalo mass shooting is that 11 of the 13 people were Black.  And the shooter said he was shooting people because they were Black.  Really?  WTF?  I mean I just cannot imagine shooting someone because they were a different color or nationality or couldn't speak English.  If I visit Angola am I going to be shot for being White?  Or not speaking Portuguese?   

I have trouble imagining being a victim in a mass shooting but I do admit that once in a while in the local grocery or casino I wonder how I would react if someone started shooting.  I don't carry a weapon and haven't even applied for a Concealed Weapons Permit so shooting back isn't really in the cards.  And my Swiss Army knife isn't much of a weapon.  It sounds like hide or run away are the options unless you want to become one of those people in the statistics.  

I don't really think that gun control is the answer.  If your plan is to go kill a bunch of people you can certainly find an illegal weapon.  I've read that there are over 400 million guns in the U.S.  That's more guns than there are people!  Of course that includes guns like we have in our household, several of which I was using to shoot tin cans when I was a teen ager half a century ago.  More to the point they claimed there are almost 20 million AR style guns.  Those are way different from the ones we had when I was a kid.  

I sure don't have any answers.  I guess being aware of how people feel and trying to get them some help is about the only way to help.  I mean the kid in the Buffalo shooting was 18 years old!  OK, teenagers often get all hopped up about some idea or another.  But going out and killing people because they are Black is just so wrong.

Thanks for stopping by.  Look out for young people with weapons!

Another day; another mass shooting.

Just another dull day with nothing to report but another mass shooting, this time it was children, the last big one was black people.  The times where 1 or 2 people are shot just don't count any more.  It's got to be 10 or 15.  WTF. The Las VegasReview Journal has a story today about a man shooting an another because he was escorting the 1^st guy's estranged girl friend. Oh, he was arrested and charged with a bunch of things but has been released!  Our son recently move near Little Rock, AR; the local paper has another shooting story.

And I have probably 50 pieces of mail from Republican candidates for public office and they all say the same thing:  I support our 2nd Amendment rights!  Well, shit!  I'm good with the 2nd Amendment but it certainly doesn't say anything about the right to go around killing others!  It doesn't say anything about letting nut cases do whatever they want.  It doesn't say buy all the military grade weapons you want.  What's next?  Why can't I go buy a mortar and a few rounds of ammunition? I mean it would take some practice to learn to use it properly but why not?  I'd only blow up 2 or 3 peoples houses while practicing.  I've had guns since I was a child.  I've had concealed weapons permits in two states.  But this is getting just a bit crazy.

The 2^nd Amendment is pretty simple. It says:  "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  Well, it needs some sort of restating to keep 'the right of the people to live peacefully' alive as well.

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!