A Cry for Help
by heatherwhaley
Chief of Police Doug Fuchs demonstrates features of the AR-15.
Last night my town held a meeting with our state representatives and officials from our federal representatives, in order to hear their opinions on the issue of gun violence. I helped to organize the meeting. It was my sincere intention to try and find some common ground between NRA members who are feeling under attack, and those of us who want meaningful change. I believed that “responsible gun owners” should be the ones to lead the way in terms of what needs attention in our current gun laws. However, “responsible gun owner” does not equal “reasonable gun owner.”
Last night we heard from a man who claimed he was worried that if the magazine capacity is lowered to seven rounds, all of his guns — which he told us were firearms and not weapons — would be obsolete. I’m no dummy. The same way gun manufacturers altered assault rifles to make them commercially available under assault weapons bans, they will manufacture clips for this man’s weapons that can hold the regulated seven rounds. For some reason I thought maybe he didn’t know that. For some reason I thought that I might give him some peace of mind if I let him know that his firearm collection, which is no doubt valuable both financially and personally to him, would not be obsolete. So I told him. Turns out he doesn’t care about that at all — that you can already buy magazine clips that are “California compliant” he just doesn’t want to. Then his buddy chimed in that he doesn’t want anything less than sixteen round magazines. I asked why. I genuinely wanted to know what the reasoning was. He said that he does not feel safe. He actually said that he does not feel safe at the mall with less than sixteen rounds loaded into his weapon. You know, just in case.
My ten year old son loved that. He asked me, “Which part of the mall is the most dangerous? Is it Yogen-Fruz?” It is beyond my ability of understanding, of ration and reason, to justify anyone walking around a mall with sixteen rounds loaded into their weapon. For whom are these vigilantes working? Certainly not me. I don’t want them shooting anyone on my behalf. Imagine the scene at the mall in Oregon where a shooter opened fire with an AR-15, if the other shoppers had all been carrying sixteen rounds. How many people would be have been killed by these vigilantes? Lots. This is madness.
I realized last night that — like these people have been telling me — I am ignorant. I am naive. I thought we could have some measure of reasonable debate, a confluence of ideas. That’s not going to happen. The NRA has dug their heels in so strongly against any change to our gun laws that their members aren’t concerned with ration or reason. I simply do not believe anyone is that afraid to go to the mall. I don’t buy it. That’s just a smoke screen.
UNLESS…
These people really don’t feel safe without sixteen rounds loaded into their guns at all times. Maybe that’s why they keep screaming about mental health. Maybe it’s a cry for help.
So that’s what your argument, of “ration (sic) and reason,” boils down to? ‘Stop being a pussy!’ And if you are actually scared, you’re probably mentally ill? Hm, with people like you about is it any surprise that Lanza didn’t get the help he needed? Mentally ill isn’t a condition that needs to be healed, it’s an epithet that’s thrown at people who disagree with you.
Be safe on the roads today! It’s beautiful AND dangerous out there.
Heather,
Thank you for organizing the event yesterday evening. As you know, Redding is a safe and beautiful town of 9,000 residents…with some 5,000 guns. Between 2003 and 2011, there were 2 rapes, 12 assaults, 12 auto thefts, 4 arsons, 0 murders, 1 robbery and 108 burglaries . (City-data). These are laudably low numbers and I think Chief Fuchs and RPD deserve a great deal of credit…along with your neighbors…for maintaining such an idyllic town. It doesn’t seem to me that the relatively high ratio of guns to residents has resulted in high crime here…for which I am thankful. I am sincerely hoping that we can study the gun issue with an open mind in order to understand what sorts of predictors really do indicate when/where gun violence is more likely to take place so that whatever policy changes we make can save lives. We certainly share the same goal (saving lives) while we may differ slightly on the proper approach.
I think maybe I am afraid to go to the mall now! The thought of people other than police officers carrying guns with enough rounds to blow away a slew of other people, or any loaded gun for that matter, never even crossed my mind.Talk about naive. I live in a state with some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country, and I think I may never go to the mall again.
Thank you, Heather, for working so hard on this issue.
Heather, thank you for your attempt to understand and possibly bridge the gap on this highly charged issue. I was there as well last night, however I was so outraged by 9:30 that I got up and left. I knew that I could not possibly speak on out on this issue with being overcome with emotion. I simply cannot understand why someone needs to own this level of firepower for sport or protection – it really is beyond me and it scares the crap out me that there are so many of these people out there.
The love and goodwill that have come out of Newtown since 12/14 is amazing – and we need all of it – but in my heart I believe that the only way to beat the NRA at this game is to fight fire with fire. I think all of these groups need to mobilize and organize and create one huge, wealthy, powerful organization that can lobby and legislate for real lasting change.
I think it’s too soon for the parents of the victims to really engage in a meaningful way, but I suspect they could become a force to be reckoned with when they do.
Thanks Meg. I don’t know why someone would follow this post with such an overblown, deluded comment. Did he not read what I wrote? If you’re psychotic enough to want that level of weapon in your home, on your person, in a public place, then you are the absolute last person who should have a permit to carry any weapon at all. That guy, whoever he is, can feel free to write his own blog, and I will feel free to ignore that, too.
Heather!
Well said. Thanks for doing all that you are doing: speaking out, organizing meetings, etc… and I loved your testimony in front of the CT legislature and forwarded it on to like-minded, and not-so-like minded people alike. Discourse is the key. But agreed, most NRA members aren’t even willing to hear arguments for limited magazines, or consider reviewing or expanding background checks. Why is that??? Doesn’t a right (to bear arms) come with a responsibility as well? You do not need all those rounds to take down an intruder. In fact, the same woman whom Gayle Trotter referred to at her Judiciary Committee hearing, who took down an intruder, used…wait for it…a shotgun. Gayle and I went to high school together btw…story for another time.
Unlike lwk, I don’t think you’re self-righteous at all. You’re trying to shed more light on an issue that has plagued the US more than any modernized culture: gun violence. And it hits home when it happens so close to you. To innocents, trapped in a school.
I live in the same county as Columbine High. I used to run near a beautiful lake right next to the Columbine memorial, behind the school. You cannot see that on a daily basis and not think: what the hell? How does this happen? Changes have been made since then in my school district, in how first responders react to calls, and buzzers in some schools. NOTHING has changed about our state’s gun laws. The NRA held its convention here in Denver, brazenly, right after Columbine. They are girded when it comes to action, and fighting any threat, perceived or real, to their “rights”.
The bottom line is that a groundswell of people doing what you do will bring about change, maybe not now, maybe not soon, but eventually. I’m with you. Even if we’ve opened the door to a national and real discussion about mental health, then that’s one step forward.
Hope you’re well.
Meg