{"id":2857,"date":"2017-06-15T11:31:31","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T11:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/?p=2857"},"modified":"2017-06-15T11:31:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T11:31:31","slug":"response-to-get-rid-of-your-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/15\/response-to-get-rid-of-your-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Response to “Get Rid of Your Guns”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a departure from my usual blogging. We read to escape reality sometimes, but the truth is, we do have to live in the present. I promise after this I’ll go back to my usual topics.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

America Gets Advice From Europe<\/h4>\n

\"\"I read a tweet this morning that prompted me to write this. It wasn’t from someone I follow, but was a RT from someone I follow. This person is probably European, I would guess, because I have read similar things from non Americans in Europe. The writer was referring to the shooting on a baseball field in Alexandria, VA<\/a>, and a shooting at a UPS facility in San Francisco<\/a> that happened on the same day.<\/p>\n

This is basically what it said:<\/p>\n

Dear America,\u00a0<\/em>Shooting elected officials. Shooting co-workers. Always shooting. Get rid of your guns. There is a better way.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
via Flickr jiejun tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dear Europeans, Learn the Truth<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Via Flickr Michael Dougherty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People who don’t live in America and haven’t traveled here have been misled to think\u00a0that Americans are all armed, walking around with rifles and hand guns, engaging in gun fights like the old Wild West. But think about that. If that were true dozens of people yesterday would not have had to run for shelter. Those there that day would not have reason to say what Representative Rand Paul said: “Our lives were saved by\u00a0Capitol Police. Had they
not been there, I think it\u00a0would have been a massacre.”<\/p>\n

Get rid of our guns? Who exactly are you addressing with that statement?<\/p>\n

Better Advice<\/h4>\n

Dear America, improve your justice system. Improve your mental health programs. Report suspicious behavior. Be vigilant. Pray for peace.<\/p>\n

But whatever you believe, know that Americans are not always shooting each other. We don’t condone this stuff.<\/p>\n

Of course we agree there is a better way. There is no need to tell us that. Of course we don’t believe the way to influence politics is to shoot those who disagree. (That country does exist, but it’s not us!) These shootings are the work of mentally unstable people who got their hands on guns. That is what needs to be addressed. That is not America. If you believe that, you’ve been misled.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Why “Get rid of your guns” is not the advice America needs most.” username=”@cindyswriting”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a departure from my usual blogging. We read to escape reality sometimes, but the truth is, we do have to live in the present. I promise after this I’ll go back to my usual topics. America Gets Advice From Europe I read a tweet this morning that prompted me to write this. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[279,280],"class_list":["post-2857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","tag-america","tag-guns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyswriting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}