There was a shooting on the campus of my school, Michigan State University, two nights ago. I spent a lot of yesterday crying, even though I am in a distance learning program and am rarely on campus. I did happen to have an on-campus meeting tomorrow that is canceled now. Some people in my program are from out-of-state and never even go to campus. That doesn't mean it didn't impact me greatly. I felt guilty, having such big feelings when I wasn't even there. Then a wise friend of mine said, "You are allowed to be sad about people dying in your community." Yes. I get to be sad about that. It is terrifying and a tragedy.
There's something profoundly hopeless about watching this occur in my community. I tweeted about not wanting thoughts and prayers - I want meaningful change. I was bombarded with replies calling me all kinds of names, telling me how clueless and uneducated I was. I can't wrap my head around choosing guns. I can't imagine seeing the massive loss of life - of the lives of children - and saying, "Yeah, that's a reasonable cost for for unfettered access to guns."
One of the blessings of being a tutor is that I get to tutor in many different subjects. One of the courses I have helped students with a few different times is AP US History. That course asserts that every political disagreement boils down to freedom vs. order. (Then they later assert that equality is sometimes in the mix; freedom vs. equality and order vs. equality.) When one steps back and looks at it from that perspective, people's choices and beliefs start to look bonkers. Very often the same people who say we need unfettered access to guns because those freedoms cannot be infringed upon also support Fourth Amendment violations in the argument of order and "getting criminals off the streets." The gun control debate is an argument between freedom to own whatever firearms with no conditions and controlling access to firearms. I would argue that it is also freedom vs. freedom. Freedom to carry whatever firearm you want anytime you want vs. someone else's freedom to be alive. I overwhelmingly choose the lives of children, the lives of my students, the lives of my community over other things.
One closing thought for anyone to consider: a survivor of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 was across the street during the MSU shooting two days ago. This is the world we have created for our youth and allowed to exist. It's not what I want.
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