Too much sadness

Once again, I sit at my keyboard searching for words to convey my horror, and sorrow, and outrage.  The deadliest mass shooting in US history.  Forty-nine dead, fifty-three wounded.   Over one hundred lives directly impacted, thousands when you think of their families, and millions when you think about the LGBTQ community.

Yesterday, I was angry.  And I know that anger is not the answer.  Today, I'm sad.  But I'm also determined.

I'm determined to not hate.  I'm determined to not paint any group of people based on the actions of an individual.  I'm determined to be a force for love, compassion and human kindness in the world.

I'm also determined to keep writing my senators, my congressman, and the president to do something about guns in America.  I supported the assault weapon ban (The Brady Bill) that went into effect after President Reagan was shot.  I wrote my senators and congressman and the president when the ban was about to expire, pleading that it be kept in place.  I still do, and always will think that assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines have no place in a civilized society.

I don't care if people have guns to hunt.  I don't care if they have guns for target practice, or skeet shooting.  I don't even care if people have guns because they feel the need for protection.

But there are weapons that are only killing machines.   In my world, they shouldn't even exist, much less be in anyone's hand that can afford to buy one.

Yes, there will always be broken people who want to do great harm to others.   Make them work for it.  An automatic weapon is a fast and easy path to incredible carnage.

I know this is more of a hate and anger problem than a gun problem, because people who would never harm another living creature could be surrounded by guns and ammunition, and never pick one up and do harm.  But until we have been working on diminishing the hate and anger in the world for a couple of successive generations, let's take the high powered weaponry off the streets.

And let's all do our part to eliminate the hate and anger.   There is always something to be angry about if that is what you focus on.  But there is always something to be thankful for as well.  Try as hard as you can to focus on the good in your world.  On the good in other people.

There is no place for hate.  It is perfectly fine to limit your exposure to people who are hateful, and who promote hate.

Promote love.  Promote forgiveness.  Promote inclusion.  I always have and always will believe that there are more people in the world who love than hate, more who want peace then want war.  Let us not be silent.  Let us stand up for love and forgiveness and inclusion.  And maybe someday we will be able to say how happy we are that the last mass shooting in America was more than ten, or twenty, or fifty years ago.