I Don’t Want To Talk To You

I just wrote and rewrote and rewrote and ultimately deleted a post trying to convince people of the need for gun control. I deleted it because there’s really nothing left to talk about.

If you think that Americans should be able to go to a gun store or a gun show and walk out with a gun, no waiting period, I don’t want to talk to you. If you think that Americans should be able to buy a gun without a thorough background check, I don’t want to talk to you. If you think that Americans should be able to own semi-automatic weapons that make it terrifyingly easy to gun down lots of people, I don’t want to talk to you.

Talking to you is a waste of my time, and I’m done trying to convince people. Because the fact is, most people are already convinced of the need for common sense gun control measures. The small minority of people who don’t support common sense gun control? I don’t need them.

“Surveys by Johns Hopkins and the Pew Research Center show that about 85 percent of gun owners favor universal background checks, an idea fiercely opposed by the gun lobby. Gun owners also strongly support a federal database of gun sales, prohibiting ownership for those convicted of domestic violence and barring people with mental illness from buying guns.”

It’s not everything that I want, but it would be a great start, and the vast, vast majority of Americans are already in favor. But the NRA, which represents a tiny fraction of gun owners, is able to shout the loudest because they’re backed by the gun manufacturers.

So, if you’re against universal background checks and a federal database of gun sales, and in favor of domestic abusers and the mentally ill buying guns, I’ll just assume that you’re a tool of the NRA and ignore you. I’m just done listening to that kind of nonsense.

But I’m one person. The big media outlets need to do their part. They’re the ones shaping this debate, deciding who gets the spotlight. They show two extreme sides to the gun debate because it makes for good TV: people who want to take away all the guns, and people who think they need an assault rifle to go get a latte. Most people do not fall into those two groups, so we need to stop giving them so much attention.

If you see a news show interviewing someone who thinks they should be able to open-carry their AR15 to their kids’ school pick-up, call the station out on social media for giving voice to fringe arguments. Let them know that they’re helping the NRA.

And if you are a gun owner who supports common sense gun laws, speak up! I will retweet and repost you and I know a lot of other people will too. Let the media–and the country–know that you are reasonable and you are the majority.

Otherwise, we will continue to be the only country where this happens, with increasing frequency.

Or put a more obvious way by The Onion, ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens. It’s funny because it’s true.

And I’ll leave you with these words from Samantha Bee: “Love does not win unless we start loving each other enough to solve our fucking problems.”

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