I don’t watch the news often, but last week I was horrified. On the 26th of August, a former disgruntled ABC news correspondent, Vester Lee Flanagan, shot and killed two people while conducting a live interview. A third person was injured, but is now in stable condition at a local hospital. Alison Parker, the correspondent and Adam Ward, a cameraman, were killed on scene. The sickest and most twisted part of this shooting is the fact that everyone watching that news broadcast saw this man and woman shot to death, right in front of their eyes.
According to the studio to which Flanagan was employed, he had a long history of anger issues. The man was fired years ago and was even escorted off the premises by police. Flanagan, in his own words, was the target of racism and discrimination; the validity of these accusations may never be known now. Allegedly, Parker had made some racist remarks and Ward had gone to the Human Resources department concerning him just once after working with him. Tweets of their so-called “actions” were released just hours before their deaths. Claiming discrimination, Flanagan filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but his claims were found to lack conviction, and the charges were dropped. Now, I don’t condone any sort of racism at all, no matter how small and trivial it may seem. I’m not even calling the shooter a liar. However, if brought before a board whose job it is to assess these allegations, you were found in want of convincing evidence, the accused is probably not guilty; just saying.
Prior to his live shooting, Flanagan released a manifesto of sorts, justifying what he was about to do. Citing admiration for the Columbine shooters and the Virginia Tech gunman, he thought he was being targeted for being a gay black man. Listen, if you’re gay, props. If you’re black, props. Nothing you can do or say, nor any lifestyle choice you make, diminishes you as a person, to an extent. Let’s take the extreme for example: if you’re advocating killing and violence, you’re wrong. As far as being gay or taking pride in the color of your skin, hats off to you. That doesn’t mean, however, that you’re entitled to take violence on people you think have wronged you in some way. Just because you felt you were on the defensive for being a black gay man doesn’t quite equate to gunning down 2 white people on live television. Parents take pride in their children’s work, and I’d be willing to bet these two young peoples’ parents were watching that broadcast; I’ll just let that sink in.
In response the shooting, several government officials released statements concerning the ability for one to purchase a gun, racially motivated crime, etc. Hillary Clinton, in a press conference, was reported as advocating a universal background check, national gun registry, longer wait periods for a permit, and the complete ban of high capacity magazines and “assault rifles”.
I’m no government conspiracy theorist, but I take my right to bear and maintain arms very seriously. The 2nd Amendment was put forth, debated, and passed amongst our forbearers in order that “before a standing army can rule the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.” In the simplest language possible, it was ratified that we the people arm ourselves against a government we no longer want, or has become abusive in nature. I am in full support of background checks. I purchased a hunting rifle (gotta get ready for deer season), and the background check was done while I was waiting in the store. 30 minutes later, I was out the door and off to go clean my new beautiful piece of equipment.
I am not, nor will I ever, be in favor of a national gun registry; not because of what it is, but of what it can become. Once every gun is registered, along with the owner’s information, confiscation is not so far down the road. If you want to tell me I’m being paranoid or that the big bad government is out to get me, I invite you to take a look in history. In order to make it shorter, we’ll only look at the 20th century. National gun registries were created in the following states: Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, Red China, and the USSR. We all know what happened there. That also begs the question of just how stricter gun control laws will curb these mass shooting incidents. Criminals will always find a way to acquire a weapon; taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens will only serve to screw over the mass majority of quiet people. Again, I’ll take the devil’s advocate position. Let’s say, for example, we get all of the guns out of everyone’s hands, criminals included. Happy day, right? Gun violence would be stopped in its steps. Now, let’s look at drunk driving. That’s also a large issue we as a society need to face. There are already precautions in place to curb it, namely the interlock system. Now, if we want to stop drunk driving, why don’t we just put interlock systems in everyone’s car? That would stop all drunk driving. That’ll never work, and such legislation would be met with fury. Gun control is the same way. As far as the background check goes, the shooter exhibited no signs that would flag his permit; he would’ve gotten one anyway. You can’t catch them all.
I, along with several of my contemporaries, have an issue with how this tragic shooting was met in the media. A gay black man killed 2 white people on live TV, and the issue presented is how readily available weapons are. There is no issue of race apparently, even though this is quite clearly a racially and sexually driven crime. A white man guns down several black people in a church, and that shows we have a problem of racism in the country. Don’t get me wrong, we do. The ax swings both ways, however. Racism is awful in all forms. The color of your skin does not equate to the composition of your character. It doesn’t matter which ethnicity is targeted, it’s still racism. Let’s shift views to the sexuality of the crime: a gay man killed 2 straight people. There’s no hate crime, according to the media. Now, a gay man being shot to death by straight people would be a hate crime and the world would go up in flames. The LBGTQ community has made headway in the past several years, finally achieving universal marriage rights. It’s still a hate crime when straight people are targeted.
What I don’t understand is why people are so hateful to each other. We’re all human beings, all the sons and daughters of two people. Flanagan robbed the parents of perfect creation, of their children. The sheer “asshole-ness” of this country is killing me. I will never understand the capacity for hatred people feel towards each other. I’m not saying a kumbaya session on the quad would solve every issue, but we all need to look at each other the way we all are: perfect creations. 9 months of the most incredible transformations evolution (and God, if you so choose to believe) has to offer, and each of us are by-products of that. I have two simple requests: don’t take my guns away, and don’t be such dicks to each other. Apparently that’s a hard wish to grant.
