Enough, Never Again, and MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

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It’s been five months since my last post about guns. It’s been five weeks since seventeen people were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It’s been three days since a gunman opened fire at a high school in Maryland. One of his two victims was taken off life support this afternoon. Today, nearly one hundred more Americans will die as a result of gun violence. Tomorrow, I’ll march. Because you see, this is urgent. But why did it take a bunch of … [Read more...]

Weinstein and gun control: we can talk about both

Horrible, spineless. Vote him out of office.

I think we set a record after Vegas. We stopped talking collectively about gun control after 3.5 days. Time to revisit: In the past year, two men from our community in the east San Fernando Valley killed themselves. Both were husbands and fathers and both, prior to committing suicide, had experienced financial difficulties. The depth of their despair was ostensibly deeper than their desire to live. It feels immoral to assign further insight into their state of mind. I didn't know either man … [Read more...]

Vegas, or just another gun control post (I’ve stopped counting)

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Good afternoon. First this was a pretend speech from the president (an imaginary one, not Trump). Now it’s just another blog post in a sea of them. Still, I had to write it: Sunday night, a madman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers, killing fifty-nine, leaving over 500 injured. Tragic? Absolutely. Heartbreaking? Of course. Dozens of families are mourning a loved one today. Unforeseen? In terms of specificity, yes—Sunday night, an outdoor concert in Vegas—yes, it was unexpected … [Read more...]

San Bernardino, and bird by bird

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I’m a news junkie. After 9/11, even while cradling baby Bun Bun in my arms, I watched and read the news relentlessly. After Paris two weeks ago, the same. I kept wanting to write something, but everywhere - newspapers and blogs, Twitter and Facebook - each notion and opinion of mine was covered except, I thought, the one I couldn’t share, the idea I didn’t want to speak out loud. If I give it a voice, it might happen. I don’t want to scare my kids.  And then today, the New York Times printed … [Read more...]

Weekly words on gun control: anticipation

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For the sake of nothing really, let’s call the school that Miss T and Bun Bun attend Hogwarts.  The other morning, Miss T told me about a site on Instagram or Snapchat or Facebook – some social media site – called “Hogwarts’ Confessions." On it, students can anonymously tell other students that they’re pretty or smart or reveal that they ‘totally’ love someone on campus, or even that Mr. So-and-So is the best teacher ever.  Knowing the full freedom of the world-wide-web, it sounded to me like an … [Read more...]