Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Weekly Update #370


Congratulations, James Holmes. You just threw America into another endless debate on gun control. Well fucking done. I'm almost afraid to turn on one of the cable news networks to see some partisan talking head spouting off about the ambiguity of the second amendment. All it does is trivialize and distract from the weight of this tragedy.

There is so much about last week's shooting that makes absolutely no sense. First of all, how in the world did Holmes acquire so much weaponry without anyone noticing?  It's one thing to defend yourself, it's another to have more artillery than the army of Monaco.  You own a .45 Magnum? Fine. A hunting rifle? Whatever. An AR-15 assault rifle, two glocks, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition? Come on.

Secondly, who brings a four-month-old baby to a midnight screening? There is no reason why that child should've been shot, let alone inside the cineplex. If you're a responsible parent, you should've either done everyone you can to find a babysitter, or just say home. In a situation like that, an infant takes top priority over anything else.

Adding extra weight to this tragedy is that something like this will happen again. It's a horrible thought, but it's inevitable. You could push the gun control debate in either direction and it wouldn't change a thing. Somewhere, somebody is plotting another massacre, another tragedy that can only be justified in the shooter's distorted mind.  And what can we do about it? Just go about our daily lives and assume nothing will happen. Live with passion, live like everything matters. Count your blessings and savor your time on earth.

Next week: the year in music, 1997. I promise I won't be as nettled.

3 comments:

  1. Trust me, the Childfree community noticed. Apparently people have no concept of MPAA ratings anymore. You'd think they would learn from something like this, but they won't. The irresponsibility & entitlement of today's parents is appalling.

    Do theaters even I.D. check much anymore? They're not likely to turn away someone because that's lost revenue. How much is a ticket these days, anyway? And who says they will use guns in the next massacre? It could easily be bombs & explosives.

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  2. I assume Stu's point was that an infant shouldn't have been out at a midnight showing, not that a violent movie featuring a hero in a rubber suit would warp a 4-month-old, regardless of the rating. And that is my thought about it as well.
    As far as the massacre itself, the left-wing will of course blame the gun and not the person, which goes along with their mindset of people not being responsible for their own actions. I'm still waiting to hear what "medications" he was on.

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  3. How about it's stupid, idiotic & inconsiderate to others for parents to bring infants to movies at all in the first place? Nobody wants to hear that crying. Just like parents who bring infants to bars - they don't belong there. Parents today just don't seem to get it & think they're entitled to do whatever they want.

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