gun control

This issue the sheer absurdity of gun rights in America has been weighing me down so much.

These stories of children who grow up with the very real possibility of a school shooting won't get out of my head. And I wonder what will happen in my tiny pocket of the world.

Even if the elections turned out to be a blue roll and not a blue wave, this shift is positive.

A sad story from FB compared to a news article
A conversation with my 13 year old son just broke my heart.

He is going to be a high school freshman next year, and he is considering between a few magnet schools in town. Nathan’s dream is to specialize in computer sciences...this boy has a goal in mind and such a vivid picture of a bright future. For the past month, we’ve been debating back and forth between the merits of each school. Nathan has taken ownership of doing the research on each school. Open house for each school is coming up in a few weeks, and Nathan has marked the dates on the calendar, super excited to see in person what each of these campuses have to offer in technology classes.

Today, Sunday, I was driving the kids to their weekly one-hour Chinese class that they love going to. I was just pulling into the parking lot when Nathan, in the front seat, turned to me and said, “Oh, Mom, Southwest Technical High School is right next to a police station, so there’s less chance of a school shooting, or if there is, help will come really fast.”

I couldn’t breathe, and I barely squeaked out, “Honey, is this what you think about a lot?”

He said, “Well, yeah. It’s very important. I don’t want you to worry about me when I’m in school.”

He then opened the car door, said, “Thanks Mom, I love you.”

I’m just frozen, just sitting here still in the parking lot, bawling my eyes out. The fact that being near a police station in case of a school shooting is a important criteria for my son in choosing a high school is so sad, so wrong. The fact that this is what kids have to think about and worry about, makes me angry. I’m angry, I’m hurt, I’m feeling a little helpless at the moment.

A Third Rail No More: Incoming House Democrats Embrace Gun Control
The deadly mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., last week came less than a day after dozens of Democrats who campaigned on promises to strengthen gun laws were elected to the House of Representatives. Across the country, candidates from Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Washington State bluntly called for more gun safety, seemingly emboldened to take on the NRA.

In total, 95 candidates endorsed by Giffords PAC won seats in the House. Giffords PAC is the gun-violence prevention group founded by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband.

Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control group founded by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, pointed to equally successful results - an 83 percent win rate among its 66 endorsements in federal races.

Both groups insist that in contests where they took on incumbents supported by the NRA, they were more successful than the powerful gun lobby.

In an emailed statement, the NRA said "gun control was not a decisive factor on election day," disputed the notion of a "blue wave," and pointed to key Senate wins in Tennessee, Indiana and Missouri, where NRA-backed candidates defeated Democratic incumbents.

After recent mass shooting, GOP congressional leaders have come under criticism for offering their thoughts and prayers, but little legislative action. The next Congress may be very different. [...]

via {npr}