I think I've said this before, but I like guns. I could rattle off a list of what I've fired at rifle shoots when I was a kid, or talk about the guns my dad owned, but none of that matters. My desire to own a British Webley Mark IV service revolver doesn't matter. My father wanting to hand his guns down to me, even his father's guns, sadly doesn't matter. As much as I want them. As much as I deeply wish I could continue that legacy, the world is different now.
I recognize that the moment we allow the government to restrict all gun sales is the moment we invite Tyranny, but I also know that people who look like me will get shot for the suspicion of a gun while a white man who kills 19 will be taken alive. This is America.
I type that phrase a lot. Tagging various tragic posts I find. But, that is the truth of the America I see. Even as the self same person whose favorite superhero is Captain America. I value the ideal of what this country is supposed to be far above the bullshit of what we have allowed her to become.
Make no mistake, we have allowed this. With every conversation we decided wasn't worth it. Every battle we picked not to have for the sake of comfort. We have chosen to allow Nazism and Fascism to grow in our midst. No, I'm not exaggerating or using these words out of turn. I'm using them 100% in their accurate meaning. We are genuinely fighting for the soul of this nation, and most of us are sleeping through it because a brightly lit sign hasn't appeared saying, "This is the moment history will judge you for."
I want the best for this country. With every fiber of my being I want this country to reign supreme and be a guiding force in this world, but right now we are a joke. We are a nuclear armed laughingstock lead by a man with a bruised ego. We need to find someone who indemnifies the ideal we want to live by and actually go out and fucking vote!
God damnit, what the fuck else are you doing with your time that you can't pay attention, watch a few debates, and chose a candidate you want to fight for you. Especially now, in an age where we have candidates specifically fighting for Black and Brown Americans or people of varying genders and ethnicities. Just pick a candidate. And if they don't win the primary, be big enough to realize that your ego isn't worth the soul of this nation.
Please. For the love of God, this nation, your own existence, whatever it takes for you to believe that this is a real issue. This is not normal. This is not how life was meant to be lived. This is not America. And yet, somehow...
This is America.