Yesterday, shortly before noon, my phone rang, something it rarely does on a Monday morning. It was Wayne. “Did you hear about the Nashville school shooting?” he asked.
“What? When?”
“This morning somewhere.”
I quickly started Googling, then froze when he said, “It was at the school Grant’s wife works at. He ran out of here all of a sudden. William told me why.”
That was about the time I saw that at least five people, kids and adults, were dead. (Details were still developing at that time.) My stomach dropped, hoping Grant’s sweet wife was okay. They’d just recently announced they were expecting.
At least, I thought it was Grant. Wayne has another employee named Grayson, who I often confuse with Grant. Wayne had already hung up, needing to get back to work. But I confirmed with him later that night. Yes, Grant was the father-to-be.
I knew from news reports about the Nashville school shooting that his wife was okay. As soon as I heard they’d released the names, I scanned to make sure hers wasn’t there.
At least physically, she’s okay. Mentally and emotionally, I’m not sure how she’s holding up. In addition to joining the ranks of those mourning the deaths of co-workers and children, Wayne said when he’d briefly spoken with Grant (who requested a few days off) that his wife had been in her classroom and saw the shooter walk by. As you might imagine, that also had her pretty shaken up. By pure chance, she’s still here. The shooter easily could’ve simply turned and pulled the trigger and that would’ve been that.
The Effect of Tennessee Gun Laws on the Nashville Shooting
Even worse, here we are again. Tennessee lawmakers defending the right for gun owners to own assault-style weapons, even though there’s nothing in the Constitution that says which types of arms people have the right to bear. By their logic, grenades, nuclear weapons, and fighter planes should all be fair game as long as an individual can afford them.
In fact, you can carry a weapon here, either openly or concealed, no permit needed. Thanks, Tennessee legislature and Governor Bill Lee. Pair that with irresponsible ownership a la people who leave their weapons in cars (oftentimes unlocked) and it’s no wonder Tennessee leads the nation per capita for gun thefts from vehicles.
Yet, they balk at bans. But not at taking away a performer’s right to wear women’s clothes. Drag queens, they argue, corrupt children and are dangerous so they must be banned to “protect” the children. Complete bullshit. Never mind that there’s something that does actual tangible harm to children that they’re unwilling to address. Or, to put it another way, no drag queen show has ever killed a kid.
And then there’s the ridiculous argument that guns save lives —with no proof of it. Where are the stories that such weapons thwart school attacks? Nowhere because they don’t exist. Except in the imaginations of people who think that’s what having a gun, especially an AR-type one, grants them. Peace and safety.
But there’s plenty of proof of death and destruction. Childhood innocence shattered. Parents forced to face the unthinkable. All so some selfish asshats can have access to weapons they have no real use for or business having.
And the kicker is, once upon a time NRA members had a very different attitude towards AR-15s.
The AR-15 Marketing Campaign
The Washington Post had an outstanding article about “the gun that divides a nation.” They explained how it “was originally designed as a soldiers’ rifle in the late 1950s. ‘An outstanding weapon with phenomenal lethality,’ an internal Pentagon report raved.”
During the Vietnam War, it became known as the M16.
Here’s the part of the article that was particularly interesting:
But few gunmakers saw a semiautomatic version of the rifle — with its shrouded barrel, pistol grip and jutting ammunition magazine — as a product for ordinary people. It didn’t seem suited for hunting. It seemed like overkill for home defense. Gun executives doubted many buyers would want to spend their money on one.
The industry’s biggest trade shows banished the AR-15 to the back. The National Rifle Association and other industry allies were focused on promoting traditional rifles and handguns. Most gun owners also shunned the AR-15, dismissing it as a “black rifle” that broke from the typical wood-stocked long guns that were popular at the time.
“We’d have NRA members walk by our booth and give us the finger,” said Randy Luth, the founder of gunmaker DPMS, one of the earliest companies to market AR-15s.
To change attitudes they had to change tactics.
Scare Tactics & Money
How do you change behaviors? Fear.
Fear that “they’re” coming to get you. “They” being anything from the government to a criminal. You need to be prepared. It’s your right to be prepared.
A handgun or rifle will do the job, but an AR-15…you’ll be the envy of all your friends. Plus, you’ll look so tough.
It’s marketing. A gimmick. A fallacy.
But it works.
{Insert FOMO here}
Sales spike…and with it gun violence. Bravo, marketers. You can add the Nashville school shooting to your latest list of successes.
As long as you’re cashing in, right? To hell with all the heartache and misery that ensues.
Ban the Fucking ARs Already
At the end of the day, those of us who want gun control, which is the majority of Americans (meaning somewhere over 50%, but I’m not sure how much over) just want common sense gun control. Most of us don’t want to see all weapons banned. Just the military assault-style ones. No civilian needs a damn weapon like that.
If you think you do, you have issues. Self-esteem, delusional, and a severe case of cluelessness. You’ve been duped and had by the marketing campaign that scared you into thinking you need one of these damn things.
Because show me the story where you used it to save your life or someone else’s? That’s right. You can’t. It doesn’t exist.
And save your lame-ass patent answer to send prayers. Those aren’t fucking shielding today’s kids from bullets.
Banning AR-15s and the like won’t stop gun violence entirely either. But it will at least make it harder for mentally ill people to wage war on unsuspecting innocent children and teachers.
Something has got to give because it sure as hell is only going to get worse. Only fucking morons argue otherwise.