Biting My Tongue

Biting my tongue is habit I mastered as an older teen.  When I was in Elementary School and Middle School, and the first year of High School, my "quick wit" as a teacher once referred to it, got me into trouble.  Sometimes people said things, things I knew were inaccurate, and I felt compelled to correct them.  Including teachers.  My parents were called on more than one occasion to discuss my "outbursts" and "argumentative attitude".  My parents would nod and agree with the teacher and then once we were in the car, Mom would say to me: "Sara, you need to learn to bite your tongue.  Even if you're right, you don't always need to let people know it."  It took a few years (and a few detentions) for this to catch on.

Eventually, I mastered it.  And now, it is rare that I ever speak up about things or interject if I feel someone is wrong (or flat out KNOW they are wrong).  It goes back to the whole avoiding confrontations thing.  Anyway, in light of last week's terror, I had to bite my tongue (or, more accurately, tame my fingers from typing) when people started with the gun control debates.  The closest I got to getting involved in those conversations was to "like" a comment I agreed with in a thread, or to "retweet" a thought I held as well.  Besides the confrontation part, another reason I refrained was because I did not feel it was in any way honoring those who were lost.  And the chatter would not bring them back.  I wrote about it "privately" here on this blog (I say privately because, even though I know this is a public forum, very VERY few people even read this; most of the time it feels like a personal journal to me), but that was the extent of my vocalization on the topic.  I may have commented on a status or two, but I kept it respectful or simply stated: "I completely agree."  I only commented on statuses or replied to tweets with people I am likeminded with when it comes to gun "control".  There is no point in debating the issue.  Neither side will back down.  The gun-toting patriots will continue preaching about 2nd Amendment rights and how "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and those of us who despise these weapons of mass destruction will continue preaching against the turmoil they cause families and individuals.

I must confess, I have had a rough time remaining silent.  But, others noticed (the ones who know my strong stance against gun ownership in the general population), and texted me or messaged me to see if I was ok because my activity on social media had become so minimal the past few days.  I had to be honest and say, NO, I am NOT ok.  26 families lost their loved ones; 20 of those loved ones were children younger than mine.  And these families are grieving because a 20-year-old messed up kid was able to steal a semi-automatic gun from his mother, one that was legally purchased from a store, and walk into a school and start shooting.  What if there weren't gun stores?  What if the penalties for carrying concealed weapons or obtaining guns illegally were more severe?  What if these types of guns were completely banned to civilians?  What then?  I know what the gun-toters think.  I know what the gun-haters think.  I wonder what those 26 families think?  I wonder if some of them supported the 2nd Amendment before Friday's tragedy.  I wonder how many changed their minds?  I wonder if the ones who supported strict gun control will step into action (having been unresolved to do so before).  I wonder.

But, I don't mention any of this on Facebook or Twitter.  I bite my tongue; tame my fingers.  I know I cannot remain silent forever.  Because someone needs to advocate for the future victims of these crimes.  Because, don't kid yourself; it is going to happen again.  As long as it is legal to purchase and own guns, the mentally ill have easy access to them (because the "screening" for guns is a complete joke in this country).  And when they snap, the innocent pay.  It is a sad reality.  And, only with these types of guns can one person kill 26 people in the span of 6 minutes.  That isn't going to happen with knives, or hands, or any other weapon (aside from explosives).  Speaking of explosives, I have one final point.  We don't sell dynamite or bombs to the public.  How often do we hear about mass killings (in the US) from explosives?  I honestly cannot remember the last time.  But, I can name 5 separate incidents in the past 6 months of killing sprees involving guns (and let's not forget the other 10,000 homicides a year by guns).  So, yes, guns are an issue.  They are a huge issue that we cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Perhaps it is time to un-bite my tongue....