I woke up this morning to use the bathroom and I threw up. I actually threw up because of something I watched on the news. Today a reporter and her photographer were shot dead on morning television while doing a puff piece on a local waterpark. The reporter, Alison Parker was 24 and the photographer, Adam Ward was 27. This morning I was reminded of another shooting that happened four years ago when a gunman shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords & thirteen others, some of them my friends. It also reminded me of a night in Aurora, a morning in Newtown, a college in Santa Monica, a mall in Iowa, a family in Virginia…..THIS doesn’t happen other places. Could all of these events have been avoided if we had stricter gun control laws? No of course not, but what about a few of them? I am physically sickened. When a soldier goes into battle, he walks in knowing the risk that his life could end at any moment. This is evil, but this is necessary evil, not that our American soldiers die, but that they understand the parameters and risks of their jobs (this is also why every time you meet a service person you should thank them). I am a teacher and on no comparative scale to a soldier, the risk of my job is poorly educating young, impressionable minds; playing educational roulette with a student’s well being. I know my risk. Do I really live in a country where a reporter or a Congresswoman or a first grader should understand that they have the same career risk as a soldier? That is the America I currently live in. Why? Because people think gun control is the same as gun abolishment. Because people believe so blindly in the second amendment that they have no problem forgetting about the first, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, or the majority of them when it comes to issues like immigration or terrorism or religion. Because it took until 1865 to abolish slavery and until 1920 to allow women the right to vote. Because people think that #blacklivesmatters means #killthepolice. Because Donald Trump is winning in the polls. Because the American public as a whole is incredibly stupid. They all have to do with each other. 
I have a good friend of mine. He is a hardcore conservative, likes Scott Walker, and disagrees with me on almost every issue. Right now he is going ballistic, and rightfully so, that his party is supporting Donald Trump. His complete disbelief that his party could be endorsing Donald Trump is the exact same one that I have when I think about his opposition to gun control. This friend is smart, kind, and has a gigantic heart, and despite his political leanings I still love him, but I am sickened by some of his views. I am sickened by so many of my friends views such as my friend, who in response to the Confederate flag issue held a “protest” and watched re-runs of The Dukes of Hazard, saluting whenever the car drove in. Or my friend who “threw up” when she learned that SCOTUS had made Gay marriage legal. Or the fact that my alma mater sees nothing wrong with printing “Straight Outta Richmond” shirts.
Donald Trump held what was essentially a white power rally in Alabama. 30,000 people came. He throws a reporter out of a press conference. People cheer. He answers a debate question about misogyny with MORE misogyny. People laugh. The majority of his views are racist, bigoted, show a lack of common sense, and are morally ambiguous at best. He leads in all the polls. People are stupid.
Atlanta has the same gun homicide rate as South Africa. People vote to lower gun restrictions. There are over 300 million civilian guns. People vote to lower gun restrictions. Over 10,000 Americans die every year because of guns. People vote to lower gun restrictions. People are stupid.
Adam Ward was my age and he was in love. Guns don’t kill people, Americans do.
End of rant.
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