Oregon – I am Ashamed!

“There are gonna be moments as we go forward where we’re gonna have to come together and figure out how do we stop things like this from happening,” Obama said in brief remarks after meeting with families. “I’ve got very strong feelings about this because when you talk to the families you are reminded this could be your child … or your mom or your dad or your relative or your friend,” Barack Obama after meeting with families in Roseburg, Oregon.*

What is the problem here. Why is this causing a political uproar in a state that considers itself to be pioneering and individualistic. Pockets of Oregon consider themselves to be forward thinking, educated, enlightened and cosmopolitan.

None of these attributes have been evident in the recent confrontation with the President of the United States.

I am embarrassed for this faction my state which cast a reflection on all. Even half a world away I am angry and sad and dismayed. I am sickened that people drove from the valley where I live to protest in a situation that should not be political, to support a freedom that is obviously killing innocent people.

Isn’t it time to think? Isn’t it time to look at this differently? Couldn’t we be the state that throws out the old stances and crazy fears to come up with solutions that work?

And why do we continue to deny that guns – in the hands of people who should not have guns – kill people. Why do we insist on “our rights” when innocent people lose their right to life because we WILL NOT use our wisdom to seek a way to prevent it.

It would be impossible to name all of the people who die by gunshot:

Children  – randomly dying in mass school shootings or drive-by shootings. Or by accident because there is a gun available.

Police – by every way and by every imaginable circumstance – in the line of duty or caught unawares.

Suicides- people of all ages by their own hand because a gun is accessible.

Women and/or men – by the hands of their abusers.

People of all ages doing their job and being killed for the sake of money, or drugs, or a bottle of alcohol, or a pack of cigarettes.

People of all ages walking through malls or in theaters by the hands of shooters.

Presidents, senators, teachers, preachers, athletes, performers, janitors, etc., etc, killed by unstable people with histories of mental issues.

These victims are the mothers, fathers, children, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, friends of the rest of us. This is a personal issue for me and I think it is personal to all of us.

It’s time to get serious. t’s time to ask questions. It’s time to demand answers from individuals – not lobbies, not lawmakers, not politicians, not political parties – but from those who make up those groups.

Some questions are obvious.

Why are we tested to drive cars for the safety of the population but not tested or vetted to to own guns?

Why do people demonstrate for “Right to Life” for an embryo but not for all of those lives lost in shootings?

Knowing full well that I will change no minds, I am venting. I am grief-stricken over the loss of lives. I am shamed by what I consider the ignorant stance taken by so many people in my home state. How can anyone still argue against registration of guns and legislation against assault rifles given the statistics on reduced deaths due to gun registration and control.

I don’t understand!

xxoo