Some stories, especially ones from our own lives, take time to percolate. Last week, the Free-Lance Star published my story about an experience I had last summer. You can read it here.
As I wrote it, I kept asking myself, why am I sharing this? Am I just using this experience to make a political point? Nothing about shootings feels political to me. And yet, here we are just a few weeks after the 4th of July massacre in Highland Park, two months after the Robb Elementary School massacre, ten years after the Sandy Hook massacre...and despite all the thoughts and prayers leaders have offered, nothing has substantially shifted in how we approach access to firearms.
A few days after my piece was published, I read about the release of the Sig Sauer MCX Spear, more powerful and destructive than the AR-15. While designed for the Army, Sig Sauer knew the U.S. consumer market was essential to its profit margin. So now, fellow Americans have access to a firearm specifically designed for the battlefield, a weapon that "renders body armor like tissue paper."
I failed to say in my article that I don't oppose gun ownership. I actually see value in the 2nd Amendment when reasonably applied. But it is devastatingly clear that we left the realm of reason long ago.
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