No-gun culture

I've been hearing a lot about this over the last couple days. There is now strong evidence that the Orlando attacker was a regular at the Pulse club, the place he later attacked. There is also some evidence he used a gay hook-up app.

Melissa McEwen of Shakesville walks us through the implications. It may mean the attacker had been so immersed in homophobia that he couldn't tolerate himself and couldn't tolerate gay people who were happy and well adjusted, able to have fun. Evidence of that immersion is a father who said, "God will punish those involved in homosexuality." It may mean the attacker wanted to be known as an ISIS terrorist or a "lone wolf" rather than be known as queer. This may explain. It does not excuse. It also indicts all those still spewing homophobic garbage at us.



McEwen again: We well know of the gun culture in America. These are people who grew up around guns, know how to use them, and think owning guns is natural. But some of us live in a no-gun culture. We don't own guns. We don't know how to use gums. We want nothing to do with guns. Many of us are frightened by guns. We don't see guns as solving the problem of self defense. We would rather the robber steal from us than to be responsible for his death. We don't want to walk in public and see guns. We don't want to face down a barrel during a case of road rage.

Where is the balance between the gun culture and the no-gun culture? Why is my right to life less important than your right to a gun?

So lets start with a ban on assault weapons, such as the one this attacker used.

If we can't even agree on that, especially after the horrific shooting in Orlando, then this isn't a conversation about guns anymore. Not really. It's a conversation about power and control.

I suspect that it always has been, but I would be thrilled if gun-owners would prove me wrong.

Scroll down in McEwen's post to where a commenter posted what Samantha Bee has to say about gun control and the effectiveness in prayer after a mass shooting. Her wonderful rant is 8 minutes.



Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut (home of the Sandy Hook shooting) and fellow Democrats are staging a filibuster demanding action on bills to address gun violence. Even if a vote is held, passage isn't a sure thing. And then there's the House...