I don’t remember having a lot of toy guns when I was growing up. I had Nerf guns and a phaser toy from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I can’t remember too many actual toy guns. We also didn’t have any real guns in our house growing up, not even a rifle for hunting or a shotgun for trap shooting. There are plenty of cultures we don’t understand if we don’t grow up in them and I do not understand gun culture.
I have friends and family members who understand and embrace gun culture. In fact my in-laws own guns so there is a gun safe at the bottom of our stairs. I don’t know the combination and I’m not sure I even want to. I don’t feel comfortable around guns and I don’t really want them to be a part of my life. That’s my personal preference and it’s neither right nor wrong. Had I grown up around guns or in a different family perhaps I would feel differently.
So when a mass shooting like what happened earlier this week in San Bernardino, CA occurs, I already have a subjective viewpoint. I don’t like guns and they are used to perpetrate violent tragedies. Like everyone else I see these stories time and time again, almost to the point of desensitization.
The most recent tragedy, though, took place 13 miles from my home in a building that I drive past almost every day. I have friends who have worked in that building. I have plenty of friends who work for San Bernardino County and could have been in that building. While it shouldn’t be this way, the proximity of this shooting has broken through my apathy.
I haven’t gotten to the point of joining any gun control organizations because I don’t necessarily know if that’s the answer. I feel like stricter gun control is the solution, but that’s as someone who doesn’t want anything to do with guns. There are people that I respect who feel like stricter gun control laws won’t solve the problem. So instead of just going with my feelings or getting caught up in a tidal wave of social media fury, I actually want to educate myself.
Which really sucks because I hate research.
But I don’t want to be indifferent anymore and I don’t want to be desensitized. 14 people died on Wednesday, people from my community. And while any of the other mass shootings should have been enough to push me to form an educated opinion, now is better than never.
Perhaps you had the same upbringing as I did and are averse to guns. Perhaps you grew up around guns and fully embrace your Second Amendment rights. Wherever we find ourselves on the issues of guns and gun control, there’s value in reevaluating our perspective. There’s value in recognizing our preconceived notions and challenging those with some thorough research and critical thinking. A process like that might not do much to change our perspective, but at least we won’t continue loudly sharing uninformed opinions and empty platitudes on social media.
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