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The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

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Welcome to ChicagoNow.

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.

Meet The Blogger

Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

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The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun Read More »

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

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Welcome to ChicagoNow.

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our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.

Meet The Blogger

Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

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The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun Read More »

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

Filed under:
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Advertisement:
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Welcome to ChicagoNow.

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.

Meet The Blogger

Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

Subscribe by Email

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Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Cubs Den

Chicago Cubs news and comprehensive blog, featuring old school baseball writing combined with the latest statistical trends

Pets in need of homes

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Hammervision

It’s like the couch potato version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
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Read More

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun Read More »

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

Filed under:
Uncategorized

Advertisement:
Advertisement:

Welcome to ChicagoNow.

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.

Meet The Blogger

Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

Subscribe by Email

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Cubs Den

Chicago Cubs news and comprehensive blog, featuring old school baseball writing combined with the latest statistical trends

Pets in need of homes

Pets available for adoption in the Chicago area

Hammervision

It’s like the couch potato version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Advertisement:

About ChicagoNow

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Recent posts RSS

Privacy policy (Updated)

Comment policy

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©2022 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

Read More

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun Read More »

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

Filed under:
Uncategorized

Advertisement:
Advertisement:

Welcome to ChicagoNow.

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.

Meet The Blogger

Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

Subscribe by Email

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Cubs Den

Chicago Cubs news and comprehensive blog, featuring old school baseball writing combined with the latest statistical trends

Pets in need of homes

Pets available for adoption in the Chicago area

Hammervision

It’s like the couch potato version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Advertisement:

About ChicagoNow

FAQs

Advertise

Recent posts RSS

Privacy policy (Updated)

Comment policy

Terms of service

Chicago Tribune Archives

Do not sell my personal info

©2022 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

Read More

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun Read More »

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The NRA Idiocy of a Good Guy with a Gun

The least surprising thing in America happened again on Sunday: a mass shooting. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and gun violence. Ain’t that America?

Of course it is. Mass shootings don’t happen with such regularity in any other country on Earth. We kill big groups of innocent people with guns better than anyone. It’s part of our freedom.

This time the shooter opened fire in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana. The police say that a civilian with a handgun heard the shooting, fired at the gunman, and killed him. But not before three people were killed.

That sound you hear in the distance is the cheering of NRA gun fetishists. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” They’ll try to convince us that gun restrictions are a bad idea because they only prevent good people from getting guns, and if that good guy couldn’t get a gun, then the body count would have been higher.

Which of two fantasy worlds – one where everyone had a gun or one where no one had a gun – would be safer? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? We’ll never get rid of every gun, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward doing so. The toothpaste is out of the tube on America’s gun problem to an extent. Thanks to the monsters at the NRA, and the finest senators that their money can buy, we’ve created a country where guns have more rights than women.

Women’s bodies: Regulated. Guns: Not regulated.

But just because the toothpaste is out of the tube doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t clean it off the counter.

To clean up America’s gun problem we need to stop listening to the NRA and their supporters. They’ve lost all credibility. Letting these firearm-worshipping extremists hold us hostage has led us to their current “wisdom”: we’ve all got to arm ourselves because we’re the only ones who can stop a bad guy with a gun.

But more of their “wisdom” – the “right” for everyone to carry their guns openly in public, and the “constitutional right” to carry a gun without a license – means that the only way we can differentiate between a madman with a gun and a “law-abiding citizen” simply deciding to exercise their “rights” and carry a gun while shopping at JCPenney’s is to wait for the armed lunatic to start shooting. And that’s when the “good guy with a gun” steps in.

Put another way, rather than create a society where anyone with a gun in a public place can rightly be assumed to be a madman, the gun fetishists have created a society where we can’t tell if someone’s a madman until they’ve already shot someone. Translation: protecting the “right” of some “good guy” to pretend he can be some superhero vigilante is more important than protecting the actual life of a human being.

The irony of such an incident occurring on the same day that a report on the Uvalde school shooting is released can’t be overlooked. A bunch of “heroes” who are supposedly “brave” and “well-trained” stood by and did nothing rather than confront a madman killing children. A police officer at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida hid outside rather than confronting the gunman inside.

Good guys with guns.

Like most of what the NRA and their supporters have said since fringe radicals took over the organization in 1977, the Good Guy with a Gun argument is bullshit. Expecting some mythical good guy to stop a shooting after a lunatic has already shot someone, rather than trying to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place only makes obvious the toxic reality of the NRA and the guns rights lobby: they value guns more than humans.

America has a gun problem, and if we’re going to do anything about it we have to stop listening to those who created the problem: the NRA and gun rights advocates. We’re not in a position today to repeal the Second Amendment, but if we ever want to actually become a great country, we must do it someday.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: My Other Posts about Gun Violence

Wasn’t that well-written and fun to read? The only way to make sure you know when I’ve written something new is to subscribe to my blog. Facebook won’t show you all of my posts, but if you subscribe we’ll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. I won’t send junk, and you can opt-out anytime.

Filed under:
Uncategorized

Advertisement:
Advertisement:

Welcome to ChicagoNow.

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
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Brett Baker

I’ve been doing this blogging thing on ChicagoNow for more than two years now. I’m writing some fiction, also. I’ve got four kids, and something to say about almost everything. Blog topics past and future: parenting, politics, cereal, guns, time, toilet seats, films, math, music, and the ridiculous Steven Seagal. If it exists–or if it should exist–I’ll write about it. I hope you’ll read it.

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Cubs drop doubleheader vs. Mets, extending skid to nine

As the Cubs try to pull themselves out of their latest abyss, there are painful reminders that the smallest shortcomings can prove costly.

Such was the case during a 2-1, 11-inning loss Saturday to the Mets in the first game of a split doubleheader, and a 4-3, 10-inning defeat in the second game extended their losing streak to nine games. They are now 3-11 in extra innings.

In the first game, right-hander Marcus Stroman and five relievers held the Mets to four hits, but the strong pitching was negated by a lack of clutch hitting and an inability to make contact in late-inning situations.

The worst example came in the 10th, when pinch runner Nelson Velazquez stole third base with no outs. But Mets reliever Adam Ottavino struck out Patrick Wisdom and P.J. Higgins before third baseman Eduardo Escobar robbed Christopher Morel of a game-winning hit with a diving stop to end the threat.

After the Mets took the lead in the 11th, Morel stole third after Rafael Ortega and Willson Contreras struck out. But he was left stranded when Ian Happ grounded out to end the game.

In the second game, Yan Gomes hit an RBI double in the second and a run-scoring single in the fourth against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer. Morel added an RBI single in the 10th, but Frank Schwindel grounded into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

”We’re going to find a way to win,” manager David Ross said of the last game before the All-Star break Sunday.

During their skid, the Cubs have lost seven of their nine games by two runs or fewer. That frustration is heightened by the fact they’re batting .221 with runners in scoring position.

”That’s it,” Ross said in summing up the 10th inning of the first game. ”You’ve got a 3-1 count [on Wisdom], a man at third with nobody out. You’ve got to get that run in to win the game. We’ve got to figure out a way. That’s been our Achilles heel.

”We’re in ballgames; we keep pointing to that. But [we’re not] figuring out a way to win, having the [good] at-bat, using the whole field, making contact. We’re getting guys at third consistently. We’ve done a nice job of putting ourselves in a spot to get runners in scoring position. We’re not very good now getting runners in from third with less than two outs.”

An RBI single by Schwindel with two outs in the fourth accounted for the Cubs’ lone run in Game 1. Higgins hit a leadoff double in the fifth but was left stranded. The Cubs put the go-ahead runner at second in the seventh, but Morel grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Ross was relegated to watching the final nine innings of Game 1 from a television after he was ejected for the second consecutive game for arguing balls and strikes. Plate umpire Ramon DeJesus tossed him after the second.

”There were two balls to [Higgins] that were balls, and I was just saying, ‘Hey, that should have been 2-0,’ ” Ross said. ”He threw me out. I didn’t cuss or didn’t say anything derogatory.”

The Cubs’ lack of hitting overshadowed an encouraging performance from Stroman in his second start since returning from the 10-day injured list with a strained right shoulder.

Stroman was booed by a large contingent of Mets fans in pregame introductions, but he silenced them with 4 1/3 innings of one-hit ball before being pulled with his pitch count at 83.

”It’s no different to me,” Stroman said of facing the Mets for the first time since departing via free agency. ”I know a lot of fans kind of hyped it up, but it’s the same mentality for me going into each and every game.”

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