I stood up to a guy in college who was always playing with a switch blade and writing stories about killing people. I reported him to our RA. The college suspended him for the rest of the school year so he could get mental health help. Meanwhile, his friends shunned me and one even body-checked me at a concert. As if I was the bad guy. Looking back, I now understand I may have prevented the sort of thing that just happened in Isla Vista.
I am so amazed by Richard Martinez.
He is speaking out for his murdered child, shot and killed in Isla Vista, CA. (At least it happened in a state that limits magazine rounds to 10. Think of the scale of the massacre if there were no limits, as in most states?)
He is saying the things most of us (probably) think and believe, but just haven’t gotten to our own personal last straw to finally starting DOING SOMETHING.
Did you know there are already videos on YouTube claiming he’s a ‘crisis actor’ and the massacre is a government hoax? I’ve had it with fringe, conspiracy theorists dominating the conversation in our communities and in our legislatures. I’ve had it with the bullying.
This is not my America. This is not the country my father died serving.
This is not what patriotism looks like.
Richard Martinez is what patriotism looks like.
We all need to stand up and speak out, like Erica Lafferty, daughter of the slain Sandy Hook principal, who speaks out about the disgusting bullying received by other survivors: stalked at their homes, spit upon, threatened with rape and murdered children.
Where are all the responsible, sane, normal gun owners in this conversation? Where are you? Speak up!
Don’t let the fringe speak for you. Don’t let them represent you. Don’t let them bully our country, our legislators, our everyday heroes with threats veiled and not so veiled. Who would want a domestic abuser to be able to buy a gun from a private unlicensed seller online or at a gun show? Who? Abusers. Not you.
Who would want felons…. oh say, for an example from my own town this week, a group of meth-distributing white supremacists, to be able to slip through that same loophole? Who?? Felons. Racists. Criminals should not be able to buy guns at gun shows and online from unlicensed dealers. They shouldn’t We need background checks.
Who in the world could possibly want to allow this to keep happening? Follow the money.
And when you get that creepy feeling about someone? Speak up. Maybe you can help prevent the next one.
I am crying as I write this. Crying for all the murdered children and loved ones. Crying for all of us who go on, every day, afterward.
Crying for the people who have been shot and live with their scars and injuries and broken bodies. Crying for the amazing, courageous people who don’t let it stop them. Don’t let it silence them.
And crying that so many people may finally be stepping up to ask for #NotOneMore. (Read about a campaign on BuzzFeed!)
The Life of Kylie 
No one ever thinks someone like the person from your dorm would ever do something like that.
Until they do.
Go you for standing up and saying something, then and now.
Thank you. It doesn’t always make me popular 😉
Did you know that the cops were too lazy to check Rodger’s gun purchase records and didn’t even bother to ask for a consent search of his apartment when they interviewed him?
He was able to legally purchase firearms under current laws and they would have had no legal basis to confiscate them.
This is such an important message, Kylie. Thank you for this. And you ask a very valid question. Where are the responsible gun owners in this discussion? Certainly this cannot be okay with them. I can’t believe the backlash.
Thanks Amy–as you’ve seen on FB (and I’ve SO appreciated your comments there), this has really set me off this week.
No problem. It’s set me off too. UCSB is my alma mater so it’s hit closer to home. Thanks for continuing the discussion.
Oh wow, that must really hurt.
Good for you for taking action. So many such situations could potentially have been avoided with similar action 😦