It IS the guns. It’s … the ‘effing … guns!

My Instagram profile states that I am “here to find things that bring me joy.” Those things include hunting and the practice that accompanies it. Right now, I can find no joy in those activities.

In Uvalde, Texas, 21 families will forever struggle to find joy in anything. Grieving parents are forever scarred by the memory of identifying the bloody bodies of their own children, some so horribly mangled that an open casket service is not possible. Yes, I wrote that to shock you. Stop and think about those parents for a moment. Seriously. Pause on that image long enough to channel your emotions. Do you feel anger? Empathy? Compassion?

An entire community will never be the same. The same holds true for Buffalo, Aurora, Boulder, Charleston, Newtown, Pittsburgh, Parkland, Orlando, Columbine, Las Vegas, El Paso and too many more towns to list because the list is so long. There is a single, central, unifying reason that the list is so long.

It’s the guns.

There are many factors associated with gun violence. Mental health. Poverty. Religion. Race. Racism. Radicalism. Each of those factors can be addressed in their own way when it comes to gun violence. But make no mistake …

It IS the guns.

Most notably, it is semiautomatic rifles (also known as “ARs/AKs” and “assault weapons”) and high-capacity magazines used in rifles, handguns, and shotguns.

Semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines are weapons designed for one purpose: kill as many people as possible as efficiently as possible in an offensive posture.

Yes, it is possible to defend yourself with them, but defense is not their intent. Nor are they explicitly designed or particularly useful for hunting. Designed for warfare, these weapons are tweaked by the manufacturers for adaptation to the highly profitable civilian market. Once tweaked, the purpose of these weapons is to slaughter children, massacre worshippers, terminate coworkers, terrorize movie patrons, mow down shoppers, snipe concertgoers, and spray scores of bullets down city streets. Did I miss anything?

The fetishization of these weapons is astounding.

I used to think it was cool and funny to see fat, middle-aged men cosplay Meal Team Six at the range. Embarrassing admission — I was one of them. Now I see it as sad. It’s also dangerous because some of these guys act on their fantasies, either by going on a killing rampage, or joining militias, or walking around in public with a weapon on their back to flex their “right to open carry.”

Some advocates refer to these weapons as “the last line of defense against tyrants.” If you believe that, you’ve fallen for the lies put out by the gun manufacturers through their propaganda machine, the NRA.

I hear some say that they have these weapons in case there is a violent revolution or civil war where society collapses and “I only have myself.” Come on. Hit pause on the fantasy, Corporal Gravy Meals. If society breaks down to a point where you are under mass attack and need to defend yourself with a high-capacity, rapid-firing firearm, chances are good that you will be dead faster than you can yell “Semper Pie!”

Grow up, and wake up. It is time for gun reform in this country, because when it comes to gun violence…

It IS the guns.

After a past mass shooting that I cannot even pinpoint, I traded in my AR-15 (I now wish I destroyed it) and discarded my high-capacity magazines. I woke up to the realization that every time there is a mass shooting, blood was on my hands, too. Owning these weapons made me a part of the problem. If you own them, I implore you to wash your hands of these weapons.

Conservative legislators call out the “media and liberals” for politicizing the issue when a shooting occurs. Guess what? Massacred kids are an issue!! Political, emotional, practical, societal … whatever. It is a massive issue for many non-journalist Americans across the political spectrum.

Americans can find ways to support reasonable steps that will in no way infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms for hunting, target shooting, self-defense and other “constitutional rights.”

The only thing infringed will be the profits of gun manufacturers and lobbying dollars for politicians if we take reasonable steps such as …

• Ban semiautomatic rifles, high-capacity magazines, and ghost guns. Offer fair market value cash for those who turn in these weapons. After a set period, make their ownership a felony punishable by a hefty fine and a lifetime ban on ownership of any type of firearm. Penalize repeat offenders with prison time.
• Implement universal background checks for every gun transfer, with no exceptions for “family” transfers. And record every gun transfer into a national database — instead of relying on the paper-records process we currently have.
• Raise firearm ownership age to 21.
• Create ownership accountability laws. If a “loaned” or unreported stolen gun is used in an intentional crime, the owner is as responsible for the crime as the gunman.
• Open gun manufacturers to liability for their promotional practices; they are a root cause of this problem.
• Implement strong, national red flag laws for those with mental illness.
• Ban gun ownership for convicted domestic abusers and create mechanism to deny purchase to those who are under active investigation or prosecution for domestic abuse.
• Strengthen penalties for crimes committed with guns, including possession of illegal firearms. And do a much better job of enforcing gun laws.

None of these steps — alone or together — will completely stop gun violence, nor will they make an impact overnight. Gun violence and madmen will always exist. Those are not valid reasons for continued inaction.

If we can curtail high-powered means to kill many people quickly, society will benefit with zero infringement on the Second Amendment.

Legislators found a way to do it in 1934 when they passed the NRA-backed National Firearms Act that outlawed automatic firearms (aka “machine guns). Republican President Ronald Reagan found the courage to do it in 1984 with the Brady Handgun Bill.

I’ve heard the many “what about” deflections and opposing viewpoints on gun reform. There was a time that I even used some of them. It is time to move past gun-rights absolutism and push against the intractability, paranoia and fatalism that have brought us to this terrible place. Pause long enough to channel the anger, empathy and compassion needed to say “enough.”

I am self-publishing this opinion piece to ask that my friends, family, colleagues and others support action. If you share my viewpoints on this matter, I ask you to express your support and share this post. Because …

It IS the guns. It’s … the ‘effing … guns!