Thoughts and Prayers

I'm so tired of hearing politicians offer thoughts and prayers after yet another mass shooting in the United States.

I'm tired of being told nothing can be done.

I'm tired of the all-powerful gun lobby holding all of us hostage.

I'm tired of being told that bringing common sense gun regulation into the conversation is politicizing a tragedy.

Only in America does the right to own military grade weaponry and ammunition  trump all other rights.

I want universal background checks.

I want limitations on the types of weapons a citizen can buy.

I want limitations on the sizes of ammunition magazines a citizen can buy.

I want intrinsic safety devices on all guns so that only the rightful owner can operate a gun.

I want everyone who seeks to own a firearm to have to be licensed, to have to pass a background check, and to have to pass a proficiency check.

I want firearm licenses to expire so that the background checks and proficiency checks are repeated at a frequency.

I want a superfund tax and a superfund established for the victims of gun violence. 

I don't think all gun owners are bad people.

I believe in the right to bear arms.

But all rights come with responsibilities.

It is time for all law abiding citizens to think long and hard about gun rights and responsibilities.

It is past time for Congressmen and Senators to stop catering to the gun lobby and start working for a better America.

We need Congress and the Senate to work together to get high-capacity ammunition magazines, and military style semi-automatic weapons out of the hands of ordinary citizens.

We need Congress and the Senate to outlaw ammunition designed to do the most harm to the victim.

I live in Louisiana.  I will send this to my Senators and Congressman, and they will tell me that I am wrong and that nothing can be done, and nothing will be done.

And I will not vote for them in the next election, I will vote for candidates that believe in responsible common sense gun regulations.

And I will keep trying to get reasonable common sense gun laws passed.

And someday, something will get done.  And when reasonable common sense gun laws are passed, the carnage will be decreased.

A list of things that can be done, now all we need are legislators who want to do something more than take blood money from the gun lobby.