Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Compass Lost -- Finding a Solution to our Gun Situation

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.  
Raymond Lindquist


Finding your way in unfamiliar territory requires an excellent map. For if you want to know where you're headed, you might want to know the general direction to undertake your journey.

In elementary school my classes did a great deal of map work including not only the geography of the world, but our own neighborhoods. We mapped our routes to and from school with landmarks and street signs. Since I always walked to school, it didn't seem such a difficult task. I'm a saunterer so I tend to notice things while I walk. The detail is what counted in our maps. The detail is what made it workable.

Each map required a compass placed in a prominent place on the page or a failing grade was guaranteed. A compass provided the measure to which one might first locate themselves. To get their bearings. To know which way to take the first step.

Since I lived in a small town divided into quadrants in regard to the numbered street address (NW, SW, NE, SE) direction was an easy issue for me. I lived in NW. My grandparents lived in SW.  The Hormel plant was in NE. The bowling alley in SE.

When I moved to Denver at 13,  I only had to look around and find the mountains. That gave me West. Easy from there. Same thing in Salt Lake City. Wasatch Front. East.  Connecticut - Long Island Sound at the end of the road. South. And then, of course, there is where the sun rises and sets.

Seemed when I knew one direction, I could easily figure out the rest. 

I recently traveled to Ireland. I had prepared. I made a guidebook with maps, hotel reservations and transportation info. I had a general knowledge of things I wanted to see and had printed out the directions from each stop in the country to the next stop. However, I didn't do that for Dublin. I knew places I wanted to see, but I hadn't studied the map. I shouldn't say that. I did study the map. But the map that had fixed itself in my brain couldn't comprehend the lay of the land when I walked it.  I felt like someone had swirled me around in a circle while I wore a blindfold and then sent me out. I had my north and south confused. My east and my west not even in my mind.

My traveling companion had a grasp of the area much better than me.  Also, the city was not that large so aimless walking still provided many a wondrous experience. But losing one's way can be most unsettling. Especially when it has been a strong point in the past.

When I arrived home, I pasted the brochures and mementos from the trip into my homemade book to accompany the journal entries made while there. I came across the Dublin map I'd used. Studying it and recalling my disorientation, I noticed the city was not a perfect grid of north/south/east/west. And the map did not have a compass.

Failing grade in my elementary school. No directional assistance for the walker. For the disoriented.

I share this long tale of direction as I struggle with the current state of my country. I'm more than troubled by the mass shootings aka terrorism (it's terrorism to me no matter how you paint it) involving guns that take place each day in this country. Where more than four people are shot or killed in a single incident by a perpetrator -- each day.

I'm even more troubled when the solution heard most loudly is spoken by those who want to put more guns out there. Who say after tragic loss of life that if the people had been armed, the loss of life would have been less.

Isn't the problem that there was any loss of life at all?

I have to ask how many of those touting that stout opinion of more guns have been in a situation where someone enters their domain and catches them off guard. If all their "gun training" calms their being and immediately sends them into SWAT team mode.

I don't know about you, but it's not in my nature to carry a firearm. Nor to undertake the extensive and continuous process of training to be not only a good marksman, but conscious of how to behave correctly in every shooting situation. How to assess. How to draw my weapon when caught off guard and under fire. How to not take out more innocents like, say, in a dark movie theater.

Nor am I interested in embracing a paranoia of living a life in fear. Not to say that I'm not aware of my surroundings. I do take precautions to ensure my safety. I do that whether in a foreign country or in the parking lot at the grocery store.

But let's be realistic. If something does happen to me, it will be when I least expect it. For isn't that the vulnerability an attacker depends upon?

And if attacked suddenly from behind or having a gun thrust at me while driving or finding myself in a safe environment now flying with bullets fired from an automatic weapon from I-don't-know-who, can I simply hold up my hands and say to the shooter "Can you hold on a minute while I get my gun out of my purse? Just a minute, I promise. It's here somewhere."

Then I have to remember how to use it while my hands shake for what kind of idiot walks around with a gun cocked and loaded. Safety and all, you know.

Many consider a solution to our gun woes is to improve our mental health system. Well, obviously. But how does that work in regard to the mass shooter? The loner with a stockpile of guns. Tables filled with literature of hate.  Do we (and who is we?) go house to house and give everyone a mental health evaluation?  What is the criteria?

I have long avoided taking this blog into any political or alienating place. I've used it to tell stories, share my humor and my family, road trips and my current state of life. I've practiced my writing skills and pushed my imagination to express itself through words and photography. I've talked about books and have most certainly bored you with my rambling thoughts in regard to many "safe" issues.

But today is a new day. I haven't been able to post anything for well more than a month because with all that is happening in my country and the world, my drivel seemed most unimportant.  
  
As much as I'd like to point out the complete stupidity of many presently taking up the airwaves, I won't. For that is quite obvious. What is missing are the intelligent voices of those who will stand up against it.

I suggest we need to draw a new map. We need to incorporate insightful, pragmatic, achievable solutions to our current out-of-control gun and ammunition debacle.

For we have most certainly misplaced our compass.

Thoughts?

46 comments:

  1. We here in the UK just do not understand your gun laws.

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    1. I promise you, Weaver, millions of us Americans don't either.

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    2. Jocelyn is right. Most of us have no idea how this has come to this. A look at our 2nd amendment by our Supreme Court is long overdue.

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  2. "If guns make us safe, why aren't we the safest country in the world?", I read recently. Sophomoric, yes, but underscoring the point that we are all rhetoric, shouted at one another. The moral compass has been missing for some time. The call for reasoned dialogue is lost on the wind. I don't know how it can even begin.

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    1. I don't either, Joanne. But this post was an attempt to at least show some guts try to attempt something. Or may just to express my outrage. Might be a beginning for me.

      Grateful for you comment.

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  3. Replies
    1. Indeed, but there must be answers for we certainly can't be at a point where we can't find reason. Right?

      Yes, a hard problem to solve.

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  4. "Since I lived in a small town divided into quadrants in regard to the numbered street address (NW, SW, NE, SE) direction was an easy issue for me. I lived in NW. My grandparents lived in SW. The Hormel plant was in NE. The bowling alley in SE."

    Ah, you take me to Austin with your words. I lived in the SE quadrant...

    Your feelings are shared by so many. What saddens me most is that I can't see a way to reverse the flood that's been unleashed. The guns are out there, and even if laws change now, all those guns are already out there.

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    1. Yes, but if we begin to put it back together somewhere, small dents just might begin to make a difference at some point in the future.

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  5. I've been reluctant to communicate and write on my photo journal blog recently as my life must seem to the general reader to be sheltered, although this is not the case. I've travelled in the Middle East when tensions have been high and have known what it's like to leave everything and run from an airport building because of a bomb threat. Recently a girl we knew went missing with tragic consequences and that has been disturbing. We're also mindful that our grandson and others like him have to travel and work in London and major cities, but incidents can happen anywhere. We can be vulnerable for various reasons as we walk the streets. We tend to rely on the professionals here in the UK to keep us safe. In Italy the policing is different and, of course, the police carry guns and the military police presence is strong. What concerns me is the polarisation of views on the gun laws and related political issues. Issues about personal safety are complex.

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    1. I most certainly understand the reluctance. I know how difficult it is to break from our usual words on our blogs, but perhaps it is time for those that have had these experiences to share them. For people to find out what it is truly like in the real world instead of the fantasy of video games and TV. Hard to do and hard to take on that responsibility, but if we are going to affect change, well... We need to speak up. Experiences such as yours are real world and might offer something fresh into the eyes of the readers. That sheltered world is certainly nice though, I agree, but seems to be getting smaller.

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  6. I too have been reluctant to write in recent days. I find myself firmly in the camp of those who say treat guns like cars, license them - with renewals, change title when they change hands, require instruction and passing written and operational tests, and require liability insurance. Failure on any of these fronts leads to confiscation of weapon. Will it prevent every shooting - no. Will it prevent some? Most assuredly. Most things in life can be more easily managed from the center out. . . what can you do to make your own community safer? Every local win provides a model for other communities! We cannot lose hope for a better option.

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    1. "Most things in life can be more easily managed from the center out. . . what can you do to make your own community safer? Every local win provides a model for other communities! We cannot lose hope for a better option."

      Excellent point, Julie. The responses to this post have given me hope that there are people out there wanting to pull back from this insanity. I thank you for your comment.

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  7. I'm posting Rosaria at http://sixtyfivewhatnow.blogspot.com/ comment for her. For some reason she couldn't get it to post and with her permission I am posting her email here.

    Julie,
    Thanks for such an insightful post. Since I'm unable to post my comment, here it is.

    Yes, we have lost our compass, for sure. Moreover, we have lost our confidence as a nation, that spirit of acceptance and open mindedness that allowed us to hear the opposite view point and respond civilly. We are angry and out of touch with the the rest of the world, and can't quite face up to all we have become. Someone else is at fault for what we feel and what is happening, someone else, and the sooner we point out our enemy, the sooner we'll all feel better.

    Our culture with guns has two/three, perhaps more sides than we can all understand.

    First is the idea that we can all possess any gun, any size, at any time is what we have to wrap our thoughts around. Some states have passed background checks laws and most people agree that is reasonable and fair not to have known criminals or mental patients, or children, have access to weapons.

    Second is the way most people interpret the second amendment is literally confusing, and the Supreme Court better clarify this soon.

    Third is the ugly rhetoric of hate that some politicians are spewing toward minorities gets confused and aggregated with a whole bunch of other stuff.

    Fourth is the fact that as a nation we are not quite sure how to interpret what's going on the world. We don't read, don't travel, don't have friends who can clarify the politics of the Middle East in a clear and cogent way for us to begin to interpret. Wherever the action is any particular year, there is our attention. Ukraine? North Korea? Out of sight, out of mind.

    Fifth is the mere fact that a world-wide recession has depleted resources and has forced governments to make difficult choices. People caught in such insecure worlds have taken drastic measures.

    And there are more factors related to history and politics, economics and climate changes that have impacted alliances and policies. Meanwhile, two radicalized people in San Bernardino, one of whom worked as a health inspector, have been plotting to cause harm for personal or ideological reasons we are just beginning to understand.

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    1. Thank you, Rosaria, for this most insightful response. I found that by writing this post it helped to put things in perspective for myself. In writing with you, you had said that is helped you to also better understand your thoughts. Working for both of us and hopefully many more to enable a path for change.

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  8. Agreed.
    There's a crazy lack of logic to the adding more guns to the equation. I tried pointing this out to my mother, who feels armed guards at schools is a perfectly reasonable solution because "too many bad guys have guns." I suggested that IF a shooter started in the green gym while our armed guard was on a bathroom break or at the other end of the building, WHAT could possibly be accomplished by the time the bleeding started. She had no response.
    I feel like that weak-minded answer comes from a place brainwashed by the NRA and watching too many movies/tv shows depicting unrealistic situations.

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  9. And yes, a reboot of the 2nd amendment, which actually begins with these 3 words: A well-regulated.

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    1. Yes, those three words do seem to disappear when many spout of the "right to bear arms." This is something that definitely needs clarification.

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  10. I do not want to take anyone's guns away if they are for hunting and protection. I want them registered and people trained and a biometric device for their use. Military or police style weapons need to be removed from the general public. It will take time to narrow down the amount weapons but we can...we can.

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    1. Indeed, I see it as a possibility also. Your comment is very rational and I so hope many will join to state the same.

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  11. Good analogy. This country has indeed lost its way. I don't have a problem with hunting rifles (as long as they are locked up when not in use), but no one uses an AK 47 to shoot a deer. No other advanced country has a problem with repeated mass shootings because they limit gun use/ownership. How many more children and innocent people must die before Americans figure this out?

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    1. I don't know. I've pondered the question of what our tipping point in this battle. I don't understand the need for all these weapons. If only books and knowledge were as zealously coveted as guns. With that reality we might find our way again.

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  12. Excellent thoughtful post and comments. Your compass analogy was perfect!

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    1. Thank you, Troutbirder. And thank you also for referencing it in your most recent post. I struggled with the writing and posting of this piece, but I'm so glad that I did. I've discovered there are rational voices out there that agree we need to do something to change the route we're currently taking. Helps to provide some sanity in the madness.

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  13. If the U.S. studied and incorporated even some of the gun laws of other, less troubled countries, I think that would help.. for starters. But there is always so much powerful resistance to stiffer regulation of weaponry, and so many illogical examples as to why it should not change. Ignorance speaks loudest and seems to Trump logic and reason. To this Canadian, America is becoming one of the more feared countries - and not at all in a good way.

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    1. Ha! How spot on was your reply, Hilary. And, I thank you for your response to how those in other countries are viewing our country. I doubt many due to living in small worlds even realize how we are now seen throughout the world. Was reaffirmed in my eyes this year while visiting outside the country that Americans are seen in not so great a light. That came about in calm and thoughtful discussions also. Americans need to give that some serious consideration both for the sake of our country and for the well being of the generations ahead.

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  14. And yes indeed.. your compass analogy is spot on.

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  15. Damn fine post. I agree wholeheartedly.

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  16. Good thoughts here. Thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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    1. Greetings to you. Thank you for reading it and commenting.

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  17. Midlife Roadtripper has been included in our A Sunday Drive for this week. Be assured that we hope this helps to point even more new visitors in your direction.

    http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-sunday-drive_20.html

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    1. Thank you, Jerry. What a pleasure to discover you found this worthy of sharing. Much appreciated.

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  18. Well said. I just don't get the gun mentality.

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  19. Because I have guns as well a concealed carry permit, I don't live in fear. Not everyone lives in an urban area and has police protection at the tip of 911. Millions of us live in rural, some in extremely rural, areas and are left to protect ourselves. I've been told by a Deputy Sheriff to protect myself using any means necessary as it would all be over by the time they arrived.
    It's not me or those like me of whom you should be afraid; it's the thug wannabe's who have total disregard for life, the power hungry who would take power at any cost, the ones who would change your/our way of life. I believe our Founding Fathers were far wiser than any I've met or heard today; they knew the dangers, the very real dangers of political control. They were used to it in the country they chose to leave behind. As to using a gun...it's like anything else...practice, practice, practice to become familiar with the tool. Further, I'm more concerned with the more than 2,000 daily abortions - the loss of of life, tax payers, doctors, disease cures, etc. I know we're not going to change each other's minds but I appreciate being allowed to comment my POV.
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours; may you celebrate in good health and happiness.

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    1. Thank you, Sandra, for your comment. This is how we have dialogue and learn to understand one another. I take particular interest in your comment regarding practice for that is something that concerns me. I worry that many gun owners are not constant practitioners. That a few lessons and no followup requirements limit their ability to protect themselves or anyone else. But, I'm thinking if I'm in your neck of the woods, I most certainly want you to have my back.

      Happy New Year to you, too. And, again. I appreciate your comments.

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  20. This is absolutely incredible, Julie. Needs to be published for a larger audience for sure. I love the compass metaphor and the way you've applied it to the terrorism that's saturated our country. My 86 year old MIL got a gun (a little one to carry in her purse) for Christmas because of ISIS. She has arthritis in both hands and gets rattled really quickly, so if she ever needs to use the gun, has a better chance of shooting herself than anyone else.

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    1. I can understand that. An older person I know recently told me she had purchased one and taken a few lessons. She doesn't have the best memory and is often startled. Scares the hell out of me.

      And thank you for the compliment.

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  21. A couple years ago, the media reported a woman openly carrying a gun while shopping in Walmart. If I'd seen her, I would have immediately paid for whatever I had in my cart and left! (Or just left period!) That's too creepy and scary for me.

    A very well written and thought provoking post, Julie. All the comments were good, too; even those opposing. I wish I had something worthwhile to add. Often, I feel exhausted and overwhelmed with the thoughts of our neurotic country; however, it's like family... I love it regardless. I also treasure the benefits of living here.

    Thank you for posting this. We have to do something...

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  22. Yes, I understand the fear of seeing someone openly carrying. My state just passed that as an okay thing to do. Scares me.
    And that makes me feel like my rights are being violated.

    I understand the exhaustion. I wish I could stop reading all the newspapers every day. Would have not only more time, but less stress in regard to our future.

    Thank you for posting. So good to hear from you.

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Let me know what you think. Every word you write, I appreciate.

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