Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
The Blessings of Liberty
What do these all have in common?
- Religious fanatic who slaughters people with a gun.
- Political ideologue who slaughters people with a gun.
- Racist who slaughters people with a gun.
- Mentally ill person who slaughters people with a gun.
- Homophobe who slaughters people with a gun.
- Seemingly “normal” person who snaps and slaughters people with a gun.
- Child who accidentally kills himself or someone else with a gun.
- Individual who commits suicide with a gun.
I’m done with the pitiful attempts at injecting false nuance into this debate. I’m done with the lazy, cowardly responses that “anyone who wants to get a gun will.” I’m done with legislators who want to legislate everything else about our lives but refuse to legislate the one thing robbing us of life itself.
Yes, there are any number of factors that could contribute to any of these incidents. But there is ONE result made more possible by ONE factor. Easy ACCESS to an overabundance of unnecessarily lethal weapons.
They say the second amendment is sacred, nevermind how outdated. But what about our “Unalienable rights” to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? What about the Constitution’s first purpose: to “insure domestic Tranquility . . . promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”? Are we tranquil? Are we well and safe? Did the children of Newtown receive their Blessings of Liberty?
It is past time to demand that the Second Amendment no longer speak for the entire Constitution.
It is past time to demand that our lawmakers respect OUR will and speak OUR voice, rather than perform at the pleasure of the NRA and other powerful moneyed interests.
It is past time to demand that the 97% of the population who want to see progress on this are freed from their bondage to the other 3%.
It is past time that we start to value our right to survive more than we value someone else’s right to murder us.
It can be done. It has been done in other places. We in “the home of the brave” need to grow a spine and do it here.
It is time for courage.
Roof Beam Reader 
Absolutely – well and bravely put. As someone speaking from the other side of the pond, we do constantly find ourselves wondering just *why* the US is hanging onto their gun laws in the face of everything that’s happening. Mind you, we seem to be having something of a problem with knife crime over here – I often think our poor planet would be much better off without the human race….
LikeLike
That is probably true.
LikeLike
I certainly hope that change happens in the United States, but I can only watch with sadness, and limit my travel to your beautiful country until things do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope so, too.
LikeLike
Could not agree more that all the hand wringing over incidents like that at Texas recently amounts to nothing unless the legislators are willing to act. Its clearly far too easy to acquire a gun so wouldnt an easy first step be more stringent controls and licensing?
LikeLike
One would think.
LikeLike
I am standing up and applauding this. Lobbyists like the NRA have way too much power in DC. It makes me sick to my stomach to see them hijack our government to suit their agendas. It is past time to do something about it.
LikeLike
I agree.
LikeLike
The Australians did it. They might be our model. I need to look into this. We just cannot go on “praying and sending good thoughts” any longer.
And btw, thank you for your anger in this post….
LikeLiked by 1 person