How Many More Times?

So trending on Facebook tonight is the tragic story of an eight year old boy who was playing with a handgun and who shot and killed himself by accident. His brother tried to administer CPR, but he still passed away. How many more stories do we have to read? How many more times does someone have to die a completely preventable death? How many more families have to grieve their children, parents, siblings?

People love to bring up the second amendment when we talk about regulating guns, or 'gun control.' I hate that second phrasing now only because it implies we want to reach further than most sensible people actually want. I want firearms to be regulated, which is exactly what the amendment says.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

First of all, apply some historical context to this. We had just won a bloody war against a country that wanted to keep us as property and not give us equal treatment like other citizens of the empire. Our weapons were muskets, which fired one round at a time and had to be loaded each time with the propellant.  Not exactly the standard in handguns we have now, let alone semi-automatic weapons and extended clips. We wanted to make sure we could protect ourselves from tyranny in the future.

(Side note: The third amendment protects us from housing soldiers in our houses during times of peace. This is ridiculous and would not ever happen now. Still, it exists and would be upheld should the super unlikely ever happen. My point? Our times have changed dramatically since 1789. The constitution was meant to be a living document hence the judicial branch of our government. Moving on.) 

Back to the regulation part. Before I could legally drive, I had to obtain a learner's permit and hold it for six months. I had to take at least three lessons behind the wheel through an approved school. I had to pass a test just to get the permit. Then I had to take a behind-the-wheel exam to get my license. Sure, I could have skipped all of that and drove illegally, but I didn't. I know many people still do it, but we have tried to prevent this with regulatory laws. We have less restrictions on guns in far too many states. 

Yes, people are always going to do things that are against the law. So then why do we have laws at all? Because we are a civilized society (or so I thought) who values the social compact we make with each other. (Same thing goes for vaccination, but that is a whole other ugly monster to tackle later.) 

They wanted to get rid of alcohol in the 1920s via prohibition. That worked out so well that we repealed it thirteen years later. We've done the same to drugs, and that has created a bloated prison population with people in need of treatment rather than punishment. (But there's no money in that, is there, private prison industry?) Same thing goes with abortion, which sadly is more regulated than who can buy a firearm. Outlawing stuff we don't like doesn't make it go away, but regulating things makes sure that, for the most part, it is safer for us as a society. 

So how many more have to die before we let go of our egos that guns make us better, safer, more important than other peoples' right to live? 

How many?

Confession Time

I just read a linked post from George Takei about atheism, and then I saw some posts on Facebook from a friend who is super Christian. I feel like sharing. Disclaimer: No offense, really.

I was raised in a house that had no established religion. My mother made sure I knew that I could explore and practice what I wanted with no judgement. I went to church a few times (a calvary chapel), checked out two Buddhist temples, read the Bible about a third of the way through, and learned bout Islam in seventh grade. I do not at all claim to be an expert. However, with that said, I still came to the conclusion that I do not believe God (as humanity has described Him/Her) exists. I am an atheist.

I don't usually tell people this because I have this feeling they will immediately judge me and look down on me. Even if they already have an established relationship with me, they will suddenly think that I am immoral, wrong, lazy, a jerk, something else negative.... But then, I am guilty, too. It's a leftover from when I was younger and thought I knew everything (don't all teenagers and young adults feel this way?). I used to downgrade my opinion of someone when I found out they believed in a god. I would high five someone mentally when I found out they were a skeptic. I would laugh at jokes of religious people being denigrated because I thought I was edgy and knew the truth.

The truth? Life is hard. As much as I love science (I teach it, after all), it cannot answer everything. Nor does it try, but that is a whole other can of worms. Anyway, as much harm as some aspects of some religions do, I don't really care what someone else believes. I used to call religion a crutch, but everyone needs help getting through this existence we have an a rock orbiting an average star in an ordinary galaxy that will someday cease to exist. If they leave me alone, I could care less how they cope. I just wish I could be more honest about myself since being non-religious is still so frowned upon.

Also, keep your religious views out of our laws. Does the Establishment Clause ring a bell?