What Ever Happened to Bubble Gum Machines?

I spent part of my weekend appreciating art in Philadelphia.  We had breakfast about 15 miles from Center City and I was stunned and sickened to discover a most unfortunate child’s vending machine just inside the door of the restaurant.  Nestled beneath the rubber bouncing balls and to the left of the plastic aliens, small children can insert coins and purchase miniature assault weapons and grenades. Undeniable and palpable glorification of violence conveniently packaged in a plastic bubble.

Something is seriously wrong with this picture. 

I will admit that my nonviolent nature is sorely challenged when I think of the adults who have decided it is okay to sell these trinkets to our children.

 

I’ve been accused of over-sensitivity when it comes to violence.  My son was robbed at gunpoint when he was attending college in Philadelphia. Thankfully he was not physically harmed but I am acutely aware that criminals holding guns are not always this benign as they purge victims of cash and belongings.

I cannot watch most action movies without feeling discomfort in my gut.  I become physically ill and emotionally unsettled when I hear or see people arguing or fighting.  Neither can I abide violence against animals. I have had to stop reading books I was otherwise enjoying when I read about cruelty in almost any form.

So you might automatically put me in the camp of those who are too naïve to understand what is at stake. Feel free to roll your eyes, but thanks for reading and try to hear me anyway.  

While still reeling from the Sandy Hook massacre we’ve daily added insult to injury.  Just today, a ninth grader shot himself in a school restroom just outside of Tulsa.  Yesterday, a Navy Seal (regarded as one of the military’s most lethal snipers-don’t even get me started) was shot to death by an unbalanced ex-Marine. They were at a shooting range (of all places.)

One story (from thousands): Six years ago a woman named Movita Johnson-Harrell told her husband that her sons “would not become statistics on the streets of Philadelphia.” She and her husband packed up and moved their family to Lansdowne in order to get away from the gun culture for which our fair city Philadelphia is so well known. Despite her efforts, four years later she was burying her 18 year old son who was a victim of mistaken identity.  As he sat waiting for his sister in a car in East Germantown, he was shot to death. 

Maybe I’m hypersensitive, but bullets are flying and this vehemently-guarded constitutional right seems a bit out of control. 18 American families each day are choosing coffins for their children because of guns.  There were over 9,000 gun-related homicides in 2011 alone.

I’m thankful for freedom and I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes (or constitutional rights) but I doubt our forefathers expected us to be ducking for cover in places like elementary classrooms and/or the front seats of our cars.  I suspect muskets and bayonets were a little easier to control.  I want to be clear.  I am NOT saying it should be illegal to own a gun.  But I do believe we need stronger regulations if we are to fairly balance someone’s right to bear arms with someone else’s right to stay alive walking down the street.

Here’s where (at the risk of making people angry) I show my hand in this deadly game of cards.  I wish the crazy-town voices in the NRA would be quiet so the moderate voices of the NRA could be heard.  Because many of the loudest opinions speaking on behalf of the NRA sound just like playground bullies.  They brandish a frightening quality that pushes and taunts and feels a lot like power. They are well-backed financially and seem frankly untouchable. But listen carefully to the way they speak.  Their words are guarded, actually coming off sounding a little paranoid.  Some seem ready to protect themselves (and their beloved collections) at the expense of anyone who might get in the way. Those “in the way” seem even to include the voices speaking for the health and safety of our nation’s children. Given the opportunity to communicate responsibly about the debacle that was the second deadliest school shooting in history, these inflexible voices suggest that each school board hire themselves a posse of armed guards.  Really?  Now there’s a vision for our educational dollars at work. It is more than a little terrifying.

Apparently there’s been some recent polling in our state.  It seems that most people now believe there should be a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  I think this is an obvious and essential step, but sadly this is not going to solve the overarching problem since most of the people dying from gunfire are being murdered with “lesser” specimens.  The number one cause of death for African-American men and boys is NOT auto accidents, NOT childhood diseases (thank you vaccines), NOT diabetes, NOT drug abuse.  The number one cause is gun violence. Tiny bullets.  Little shells of destruction fired via the simple flick of a finger. And unfortunately it takes precious little intelligence to pull a trigger.

I will say, it does give me hope that 58% of gun-holding households back a nationwide ban of high-capacity magazines.  I know there are many responsible gun-owners and I appreciate their voices of reason in this debate.

While I’m asking impossible questions, I’ve got one more. Why are 40% of gun sales in our country accomplished through unlicensed dealers?  I hope I’m wrong but it is my understanding that someone can just show up at a gun show and make a purchase without a federal background check.  If these numbers are real, then what are we, CRAZY?!  To give perspective, there were 700,000 DENIALS in the last decade when the federal background check was done the right way.  (Making these background checks mandatory seems like a no-brainer, does it not?)

Obviously I have more questions than answers. But even to a peace-loving, let’s all just get along, rainbows, puppies and ice cream sort of personality like mine; some things just seem like common sense.

And I’d sure like to believe we can find it in our hearts to agree that bubble gum machines are a good place to start.