I grew up in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. My childhood years during the 1950s showed me a peaceful and simple life. I never heard of people being murdered. It was something that I never thought of. People were supposed to get along with everyone. I didn't care if someone was white, black, asian, or what their religion was.
I liked everyone and I still do. Somewhere along the line times have changed for the worst in the United States of America. My entire family were hunters, including my mother. I grew up with guns and learned at an early age how to handle them safely. The most important fact that my parents taught me was you never point a gun at anyone, NEVER.
Then the 1960s came, my teenage years. First I saw where JFK our president was shot and killed. It was a terrible day, one I will never forget no matter how long I live. I was in tenth grade typing class when I got the news. Later in that decade, RFK was shot and killed. Even later Martin Luther King was shot and killed. I was taught never to point a gun at anyone. I was seeing some of the most powerful men in America being killed. Something was very wrong and I didn't understand.
As my life went on I saw that racism was getting better in America. Black people were being treated more fairly and I was sure that someday it would make a difference to no one what color a person's skin was. Black people were playing all the major sports, in great TV shows, and more and more were becoming doctors and lawyers. People were being equal, or so I thought.
Years later I see that hate in America is once again rising it's ugly head. I was sure that when Barrack Obama became president people would come together like never before. I was wrong, so many people refuse to believe that the Civil War is over. They want to put race in everything. A Republican House of Representatives refuses to pass any bills that will make the president look good. They refuse to support a black man. I am ashamed of the Congress of the USA.
When the Constitution was written it gave people the right to bear arms. That sounded good when everyone had single shot muskets. Now America is flooded with high capacity rifles and many people own more guns than they will ever need. I had a friend on a social networking site that told me he has more guns than most police departments. I felt it was an ignorant thing to say. He is no longer a friend of mine. It is time to change the Constitution to the modern era.
Mass shootings in America and Congress does nothing. They don't care about the American people. 90% of American citizens want to expand background checks and Congress does nothing. It has been almost a year and a half since the terrible shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and Congress has done nothing. I don't believe guns should be taken away from hunters, people who shoot target practice or in competitions. I do believe something should be done. Every day when I turn on the news I hear of a shooting. This shouldn't be happening in America.
Many shootings happen because of racism, different religions, different social status. America is full of hate and it is time to vote in people that care about America. To many of our politicians only care about the rich. They don't want to loose their campaign supporters. They would rather turn their heads and pretend they don't see the violence and hatred in America.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
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