T.O.F.U. #13 | Update And The NRA
I had planned on posting an update about the next issue today, and I guess I did accomplish that, but I also couldn’t help but comment on recent events in the United States.
Of course, given that that event was a mass shooting, my comments sadly can be applied in relation to plenty of events in that country over the last while.
As someone who grew up outside of the United States, I continue to be baffled by how prevalent these incidents are and just how little is done after each one. The concept of gun ownership seems foreign to me, and even as a traveller who has spent plenty of time in countries with genuine safety concerns, I would never consider owning one (let alone openly carrying one) as the answer to feeling safe.
Yet, the debate will continue, the politicians will keep denying that things can change, and the NRA will keep lining pockets so their members can stockpile weapons just in case another black man becomes President and threatens to restrict their all-important (white) right to own them.
So, where can we go from here? Chances are, the same place we went last time a mass shooting happened: nowhere. Yet I still remain hopeful that change will come through voting, political pressure, social media, and just generally pushing political leaders to talk and act on it. Obviously, the line they need to have the country cross before they really wake up is far lower than what most of us would like it to be, so we just have to either show them where our line is or point to the door.
