When I grew up, doors were never locked. Whether it was our homes or cars, people came and went all the time. I never thought about that until I lived in my own home decades later and found myself not only locking the doors but putting bars on the windows and years later, installing alarm systems. Anything to feel safe and protected in my own house.
Even now, when home, the doors are locked, the alarm on.
One year when my little girl and I attended synagogue for the Yom Kippur holiday (the Jewish new year) we had to be evacuated due to a bomb scare. The congregation refused to be terrorized so a policeman was posted at the front door for all future services. Knowing a stranger wanted to hurt us just because we followed a different faith was haunting. Did we really live in a community filled with such hate and ignorance?
My daughter was involved in her first lockdown her freshman year in high school. I stood outside surrounded by other parents scared and worried for our children’s safety. Not knowing for hours what was happening or if they were safe was surreal. I kept wondering how this could be happening. And the worst part was learning she had been drilled and prepared for such events!
There were several more to come.
Something so alien to me has now become routine for parents, kids and families around the country.
I heard them referred to as the lockdown generation.
What a label. As though it’s nothing more than being called “baby boomers” or “millennials”. As though entire decades of kids being trained and taught how to flee to safety when a mass murderer is in their midst is routine.
Being hunted down with an assault rifle, even well protected and well-armed law enforcement agents fear so badly they hesitate to engage, is part of their education now.
And it’s no longer just in schools or in a church or a synagogue- it’s at a park, bar, special event, and grocery store. Anywhere people congregate there’s a risk for mass shootings.
I couldn’t imagine it getting worse until I recently read about the “Wee1” debuting this year.
A gun specifically designed for babies! The JR -15 assault rifle is a 22 rifle designed to look like an AR-15.
Initially it had logos with babies, teething rings and Scooby Doo cartoons.
The manufacturer finally pulled these pictures but they didn’t stop targeting the parents of toddlers.
This is not a hoax!
Illinois is on the precipice of banning marketing like this to children. Since the Supreme Court made clear they can’t ban the rifle, this is the best they can do.
The company proudly advertises it’s perfect for children because it weighs only 2 pounds and is built for their tiny fingers.
Is this where we’ve come? Where teaching our children how to shoot assault rifles specifically made to fit “their small hands” makes sense?
Mass shootings have become a regular occurrence in this country.
States are racing to make it easier to buy and use weapons of mass destruction.
Now they are catering to toddlers.
Have they no shame?
-https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7vakd/the-jr-15-rifle-for-kids-is-back-without-baby-skulls-in-marketing-this-time