Stop Doing Nothing

Waking up to the tragic news about the Orlando Nightclub hit me hard. I'm at wits end in terms of being consistently heartbroken at this sort of violence and the frustration of being able to do nothing about it. Our policy makers did nothing after Sandy Hook and even as recent as last December, they decided to pass on background checks for people on the terrorist watch list; which Florida's shooter was on. Seriously.

I'm not going to attempt to wax eloquently on this issue via written word. The internet is filled with vitriol and defenses are always at 1000% when trying to discuss an issue with more than two sides. I'm just sick of hearing that gun sales increase after these incidents because people are scared they are going to be taken away. Not just a mild increase but a sharp uptick. Seriously.

Appealing to politicians is useless. Look at the evidence. The only mechanism that talks is money. Not a desire to have less deaths. Not a sensible request to simply make it a bit harder to own a deadly weapon. Only filling pockets of those who have their own self-interest at heart. So, I'm going to throw what I've got at EveryTown, an organization set on increasing gun safety and ending gun violence. If they're going up against the NRA they're going to need every penny that we can muster. Maybe there's a better organization to give my money to? Let me know, I'm open to suggestions. Seriously.

Image by Nil Ultra.

Fun Fact: did you know Congress has blocked dedicated funding to researching gun violence? Not changing anything, just studying it. Banned. If we can't even educate ourselves to the problem, how can we fix it?