After the tragic shootings happened yesterday at a private school in TN & my stomach churned like someone was digging a knife into it, I turned to Twitter to see what other folks were sharing. I wanted to quote tweet an article that shared just the facts: 6 shot & killed, 3 of them babies at just 9 yrs old, & offer what I was feeling abt the events…something just coming straight from my heart.
Then reality set in – no matter WHAT news outlet I retweeted, instead of the reaction being abt my comments/feelings/thoughts/observations, the tweet would be judged immediately thru a political lens.
It’s disgusting we have devolved so much as a society that 3 babies are killed & ya gotta worry abt what news source you share from, for fear you’ll be considered taking a “side.”
Warning: 1) I’m going to appeal to some ppl in this post….Others I may offend bc you have strongly held beliefs bc you’re riled up emotionally (understandably) & only want to hear one side’s take. That’s not how I am. I try to find middle ground bc that appears, in this stalemate we are in, like the only way change is going to happen. 2) Also warning, bc of the nuance needed on this topic, this is gonna be a long post. I’m sorry for that but there’s no simple answer here, bc this is not a simple topic.
Immediately when there’s a mass shooting in this country, & in particular a school shooting, both “sides” go into their talking pts. On the left it’s “Enough w your thoughts & prayers, pass more comprehensive gun laws…only in America where there are so many guns, is this large number of school/mass shootings happening.” Then they show charts like the first one ➡️.
On the right, we hear: “If we had more armed officers at schools & greater protocols for entering schools, these things wouldn’t happen, & we have to start more closely looking at the mental health profile of the shooters typically involved in these incidences. Guns aren’t the issue. The people who pull the trigger are.”
Then you have folks in my spot, who for yrs have said (& this infuriates me more than most anything in this space): “Stop blaming MH for any of these violent acts, (Cont➡️)