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Audrey JoAnn | Content and Copy Writer

Compelling Copy for Female Founders

My Thoughts On Gun Violence and Its Root Cause

December 3, 2015

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Personally, I’m not a fan of guns. My immediate association to them is violence, injury, and death – whether they’re used for protection or for harm. It would be a beautiful and perfect day to see the world without ammunition of any kind: guns, bombs, weapons of mass destruction. But realistically, that will never happen. Everyone knows that, even the least logical or most weapon-hating of us. So I’m not quite sure that ridding America of guns entirely, as some would argue, is the answer, but there has to be a way to make our lives more protected and valued, and the country safer, without taking such an extreme (read: impossible) measure.

I read a statistic the other day that said there have been more mass shootings in America this year than the number of days so far in 2015. There have been 336 days this year, 355 mass shootings. That’s more than one mass shooting per day this year. A number like that is heart-wrenching, infuriating, and perplexing all at once. Obviously, something needs to be done. It’s what your newsfeeds and Twitter timelines have been “annoyingly” buzzing about not just this week, but for months and for years, every time another absurd act of violence breaks out.

I understand both sides of the argument: it’s Americans’ right to tote their own protection if they choose to do so, vs. the “less guns means less violence” mindset. I can sort them out so that both sides make sense in my head, and I honestly think our government is in that same predicament of understanding the truth to each argument. How can they claim to protect citizens by eliminating their weapons, when some trustworthy, mentally-together citizens have done their due diligence to own a gun and protect their family from external harm? But then again, look at all the countries out there with extremely restricted gun laws and their respectively low crime rates. So then, maybe making guns merely less accessible in America is the answer.

Did you know it’s pretty simple to buy a gun in our country? You can get one at Walmart, and a lot of other stores (per CNN). You fill out a simple form for a background check that can take a matter of minutes. Then the store clerk calls up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for a verification of your personal and criminal background. Less than 1 percent of those checked are denied. Or, you could always go to a gun show, where you don’t need a background check to purchase a firearm, according to CNN. (That was shocking to me.) President Obama tried to pass a bill in 2013 that would’ve made background checks at gun shows mandatory, except that little group called Congress got in the way and didn’t pass it. Maybe that’s all it would take – more background checks across the board. Only then there’s the issue, which I admittedly know less about, of illegal trading and black market selling of weapons.

My mom always told me growing up, “If someone wants to find something, they’ll find it.” You could have a criminal background a mile long, but I guarantee there are ways for you to find a gun somehow. Plus, did you know the guy who killed nine African Americans in a South Carolina church this summer, Dylann Roof, passed his background check to purchase a gun soon before his crime, even though he’d been arrested earlier in the year for drug possession and trespassing? Somehow he met the legal criteria regardless, and all that junk on his Facebook displaying racism would go unnoticed in the typical background check, too.

That’s one thing background checks cannot look into. While conclusive of almost all past criminal activity, they have no way of knowing a person’s mental stability. That is the bottom line here.

It isn’t about predicting which nasty criminal is going to strike next and taking away his or her gun; it’s about getting to those people who show signs of mental incongruence and offering them a hand before they have the chance to go to their local Walmart and drop $200 on a handgun. Stricter laws like mandatory background checks at gun shows (which I do actually believe would help) will make it more difficult for the mentally instable to buy their weapon of choice, yes, but it doesn’t take the idea out of their head that gunning down others will make them somehow feel better. They’ll find a weapon if they feel the need to do so.

I’m not writing this because I am certain about exactly what it will take to get those whose minds are ill help. Mental health is an expensive issue, and one far more complicated than even passing a new gun law. It isn’t black and white, and there isn’t a clear-cut answer that I can come up with. But I know there are medical and mental health professionals, much smarter people than I am, who have a clue of what our country needs to deliver better mental health to the masses, and to protect our citizens from the hurting people out there who feel the need to hurt others. I just want to continue the conversation.

I know people are fed up with the violence, and they’re fed up with the right-wing and left-wing answers spewed on social media that don’t agree with their own, but the definition of insanity is just that. It’s getting fed up with the same thing happening over and over and over again, and not doing anything about it. Let’s do something about it.

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Welcome! I'm Audrey, and I adore connecting with female founders and telling their stories in a way that matters & lasts for years to come.

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audskelton

Who do you think was more excited about this day t Who do you think was more excited about this day trip out to the coast... us or Wallace? 😅😂 I love them. Also, I can’t get over the burp cloth on John’s shoulder. Ya know, just in case. #newparentlife
One hour, just us two in our backyard with a big c One hour, just us two in our backyard with a big charcuterie board, a deck of cards, a couple glasses of rosé, and no baby monitor. 🤎

The first week of Wallace’s life? I ached even being in another room from him (#hormones). I was a wreck of emotions and had legitimate baby tunnel vision... preeeetty much nothing else mattered. But things have been balancing out this past week, and today was so needed.

My mom is in town all month and watched Wally for us so we could have some time just us two—yep, in the backyard because of shelter in place restrictions from COVID. (Plus let’s be real... I’m not quite ready for an out-of-the-house date yet anyway. 😂)

As much as I desire to be a present + loving mama and ambitious business owner, it’s just as important to me to prioritize our marriage with little moments like this to just be in each other’s presence (and not just talk about burping and swaddling and bedtime routines, like most of our recent convos).

Here’s to (almost) 2 weeks of being parents, @the_beermonger. I think we’ll do okay.
My two favorite guys in the world. 🤍🌎 My two favorite guys in the world. 🤍🌎
Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands Me, trying to figure out what to do with my hands without a bump. 👐🏼 Wallace, trying to figure out what we’re doing out of the house. 🤨

First family walk in the books! All of 10 minutes. 🤪 (Also, does anyone else notice the rainbow over Wally?... My heart. 🌈🥺)
1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & mos 1 week old. 🤎 The hardest, most emotional & most rewarding week of my life. Babies’ sleep schedules, y’all. They are not for the faint of heart.

Wallace is hitting all his milestones, has learned the alphabet, and is picking up Latin. Just kidding. But he CAN poop 3 times in an hour and a half 😎, and he eats like a champ, is so strong that we prefer to tag team diaper changes for now, and makes the sweetest, cutest noises all day long. (And night.) Like even his cry is cute. 😩

One of my friends called this time the “wet weeks”: urine, breast milk, spit up, night sweats, tears, blood, more tears. It’s a lot, and it’s temporary. So even in the hard moments, we are reminding ourselves that the hardest things are often the best things. 

And this really has been the best thing.

So, so thankful for a hands-on husband who’s been so involved in everything... there’s something indescribable about watching your partner care for your child and step into a big, new role like this so gracefully. And we are thankful for ALL of the support, near and far (... mostly far), from our family and friends and coworkers. What a week... here’s to continuing to figure it all out together as a family. 😌
At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worl At 5 a.m. my water broke and at 3:44 p.m. our worlds and hearts were changed forever. Everything in between was a gritty, fast-moving tidal wave of emotion, pain, instinct, and a kind of love I never could’ve imagined.

Welcome, Wallace Ronal Skelton. 🤎 You kept us waiting until you decided, very quickly, you’d like to be here. I’m still in disbelief that you are ours. 

January 4, 2021 • 7 lbs 4 oz • 20.5 inches • Sweet as can be.
Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our Well, this baby friend doesn’t exactly have our sense of punctuality which realllly threw me for a loop after thinking & saying for months that I was certain he/she would get here early. I’ve drank 3 boxes of raspberry leaf tea in 3 weeks, walked dozens of miles, eaten way too many dates, done hundreds of squats and bench step-ups... and now I’m surrendering. You come whenever you feel like it, little one. I’m comfy enough and can still sleep through the night (minus a bathroom break or two) so we will just keep on waiting and letting you teach us our first lesson of parenthood: PATIENCE. I knew I could always use some more of it. 😉 #40weekspregnant #pregnancy
scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morni scenes from our blissful, muddy, much-needed morning hike. ☀️🍂 in a year that’s felt like 5, getting outside whenever we can has been my favorite way to reset. so thankful to live in such gorgeous surroundings!
our first and probably only christmas just us thre our first and probably only christmas just us three! quiet and simple and a little sad but mostly filled with hope and gratitude. hope yours is special in all the best ways. 🤍
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