{"id":11945,"date":"2012-12-18T10:12:38","date_gmt":"2012-12-18T18:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/momservations.wordpress.com\/?p=11945"},"modified":"2012-12-18T10:12:38","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T18:12:38","slug":"santa-please-bring-mommy-an-assault-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/18\/santa-please-bring-mommy-an-assault-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa, Please Bring Mommy an Assault Rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Momservation: <\/b>Setting a good example for your kids doesn\u2019t mean target shooting with an assault weapon.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/b><\/p>\n

Someone please tell me why a suburban mother needs an assault rifle.<\/p>\n

And being a \u201cgun enthusiast\u201d is a hollow explanation reverberating against the sobs of parents. Parents who have just been told their children were murdered by a gun meant for war in a school meant for learning.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell me it\u2019s our Second Amendment right to bear arms. Anyone who pretends to think this country is in the same need of firearms as it was in the 1700\u2019s is a fool and a coward hiding behind indoctrinated rhetoric. We do not need to form militias for our protection when we have the mightiest military in the world. We do not need guns to hunt for food in order to survive when we have grocery superstores dotting our landscape. We don\u2019t need it to protect our families from hostile indigenous people and lawless marauders when we have brave men and women in uniform sworn to protect us in every city in America.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell me it\u2019s for protection. Statistics show \u201ca gun in the home is more likely to be used in a homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in self-defense.\u201d A gun owner\u2019s gun is more likely to be stolen or cause them to be shot in a robbery than for protection.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell me guns don\u2019t kill people, people kill people. First, I want you to tell that argument to the face of one of the parents who is burying their six year old today. Then I want you to look at the carnage in two classrooms of first graders in Connecticut where not a single survivor was found. A gun did that. A person cannot decimate 27 lives in mere seconds without a gun.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This should only be found in the hand of a soldier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a family columnist I try to stay away from controversial topics, my intention more to provide levity to parenthood not heated debate. But I don\u2019t care who I piss off today. In fact, I hope I piss off a lot of people today\u2014specifically gun owners. Because I think remaining silent on this topic\u2014as the NRA and other prominent gun right advocates are\u2014instead of moving forward toward a solution to the epidemic of gun violence in this country is cowardly.<\/p>\n

Right now I feel sick. Heartsick for those innocent children, so eager for life and for Santa only days away, who didn\u2019t stand a chance against an assault rifle. Sick to my stomach for the parents who could never have imagined their child\u2019s life ending so violently simply by being dropped off at school. I read a quote from a pastor who said one of the children was just \u201cin the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d No, that child wasn\u2019t. He was right where he was supposed to be\u2014where he shouldn\u2019t have to worry about lockdown drills and principals trying to tackle madmen.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sick for the educators who lost their lives\u2014paid too little for the noblest profession of growing the minds of our nation\u2019s children, paying far too high a price because they protected them as their own.<\/p>\n

I feel sick in my powerlessness to help in the face of this unthinkable tragedy\u2014yet another senseless loss of life at the tip of a smoking gun. Sick that even when the most vulnerable among us can\u2019t be protected, becoming a casualty of politics as usual, it is still not enough to say \u201cenough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gun owners will still think they need their guns. The NRA will still block gun control legislation. Politicians will still be more worried about keeping their jobs than doing their jobs. And gun factories will keep pumping out guns, because 250 million guns in America is still not enough. The sad reality is 20 dead six and seven year-olds and the six people who tried to protect them are not tragic enough.<\/p>\n

So the only thing I have in my power, against this madness that needs to stop, is my voice. And I would be a coward if I didn\u2019t use it. I don\u2019t care who I piss off. I just pray that if I raise my voice up, others will follow, until the call to action\u2014the right action\u2014is too powerful to ignore. And the voices of irrationality\u2014the people who think there is nothing wrong with a gun enthusiast suburban mom needing an assault rifle\u2014become drowned out, ineffective and inconsequential. But more importantly, enlightened.<\/p>\n

God bless the souls who needlessly lost their lives in Connecticut. May God hear my prayer for the community of Newtown to be able to have the strength, courage, and hope to breathe again without it hurting. May peace and sanity prevail. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pretend you’re a first grade teacher and have the courage to stand up against guns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[855,856,2,857,86,3,5],"class_list":["post-11945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting-2","tag-ban-against-assault-rifles","tag-connecticut-massacre","tag-family","tag-gun-control","tag-kelli-wheeler","tag-kids","tag-momservations"],"yoast_head":"\nSanta, Please Bring Mommy an Assault Rifle - Kelli M. 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