After my post yesterday reacting to the horror of children being gunned down in broad daylight by an apparently deranged young man, I was gonna return to my – in comparison – more mundane more cloistered run of blog posts about my art, art in general, grandkids, stuff like that.

I’d prefaced my post with these thoughts, so folk’s would know where I was coming from —

There is ample room between no one anywhere anytime having access to a gun and everyone anywhere anytime having any gun they want & be able to carry it about anywhere anytime they want. That’s what Democracy is about.

https://felipeadanlerma.com/2022/05/25/may-25-2022-when-innocent-children-are-gunned-down-we-are-in-the-land-of-death-and-must-change-this/

In the day between then and now, with horrific images of sweet innocent children enjoying being children, then learning they were among those slaughtered at their school in Uvalde, Texas – much has been said and debated, with again little differences or change between the ideas of total non-gun control, and gun controls of any kind.

And it’s that latter position, gun controls that do exist, and their being exemplified as markers of failures in their communities to stem unlawful violence that got me thinking. See below —

“We need to realize that people who think, ‘Well, maybe if we just implement tougher gun laws it’s going to solve it.’ Chicago and LA and New York disprove that thesis. If you’re looking for a real solution, Chicago teaches that what you’re talking about is not a real solution.”

KVUE News Austin, quoting Texas Gov. Abbott
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/special-reports/uvalde-school-shooting/greg-abbott-uvalde-gun-control-laws-texas/

The governor also expressed he felt this was a mental health issue.

And I certainly had to agree with that, that the young man here in Texas was mentally “off” in a way he should not have had access to the weapons he had that so efficiently killed so many children and others.

And I couldn’t ( not knowing details ) really disagree that the gun laws in Chicago and New York and LA didn’t work, or at least didn’t work enough to curtail the gun violence in those violence stricken areas of those cities.

So I asked myself – what might be a common starting point?

After all, the shooter who shot and killed innocent people of all ages in Buffalo all too recently, carefully planned and executed his violence. Mental issues, aside from total lack of empathy for other human beings, were not the probable glaring issue or cause of his actions.

And probably much is also true for the myriad of crimes in the 3 cities mentioned above.

Here in Austin, a bicyclist shot two people at a bus stop who wouldn’t or couldn’t buy some bus passes he wanted sell. Why did he shoot those folks?

The only reason I can come up, as a start, to explain the why of such huge ongoing excess of violence with automatic weapons, rifles, handguns & more, by one or more people against one or more other people – is access.

If our governor believes mental health is a – or “the” – reason for violence of the magnitude in Buffalo, New York or Uvalde, Texas or anywhere else – then I sincerely hope, as Beto in this same article expressed, that our governor will do something toward solving that link of the problem.

Meanwhile, as per some info I shared from the Clinton White House years ( pros & cons ), when gun violence did drop dramatically in the 1990s, before the law was allowed to lapse – creating purchasing / access laws without loopholes we evidently already know allow unwarranted gun purchasing to still continue, seems to be the best way to approach a problem we probably can’t completely eradicate, but, again – as the 1990s showed – sure can blunt!

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Voting, in our democracy, is the purest form of expression.

Dissenting, affirming, protesting –

– all flow through the form of the ballot, not, the bullet…

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It’s hard to move on from something like this, and maybe “moving on” isn’t even the right wording. My goal is to carry-on. Continue my art. Relish my life with my family and friends as I can. And, remember, there are those who would and do and will dismember us from what is good in our lives – almost like war crimes – and we must fight those who would do this to our humanity, and continue to enhance our lives — as we can..and, as we must…

Stay well everyone – for oneself, and for those who need us most..the children….

Adan

See & Buy My Art 👩‍🎨 🎨 ❤️
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Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

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