This title from The Onion could not be more accurate.
Mere weeks ago, a man pulled a gun at a basketball court in my local gym. This scare occurred five minutes from my home.
Add Uvalde to the mix, and addressing gun violence is a subject I cannot ignore.
I would break down this analysis into two categories: gun legislation and mental wellness. These are the two foundational blocks which are two paths to preventing the same tragedy.
As I am not a policymaker, I feel helpless to enact change; but most know that the obvious solution is to make it harder for semi-automatic weapons to reach the hands of disturbed and often young minds, via background checks, mental health surveys, and strict registration.
Seventeen countries in the world ban guns. Of course, crime rates are lower on average in these areas, and this is indisputable. But for a country such as the U.S. that connotes guns with freedom, defense, and self-respect, perhaps an outright ban would send the black market for guns soaring.
In a dark twist, I often see myself reflected in the perpetrator rather than the victim. As a subject of mental illness, I often fear myself and what I am capable of. What if I become a source of evil? What if bad thoughts mislead me to delusion? I do not have a history of hurting anyone, but simply watching the news of the latest shootings, and now Tulsa, makes me curl up in my bed, incapacitated, for fear that I will hurt someone else. One mistake, one pill missed, and six or seven armed officers will tackle me, handcuff me, and send me into an ambulance trip worth thousands. That must be just how dangerous I am.
When is violence wielded equated with mental illness, and when is it not?