Welcome to Episode 74 of the Adventures with Grammy Podcast. I am your host, Carolyn Berry.
Today’s podcast is a different format from the usual guest interview. I, alone, will be speaking, and the topic is my views about gun control, specifically the guns used during school shootings.
If you are a hard-right, gun-toting person who believes high-velocity guns and ammunition designed to inflict mass carnage on people should continue to be legal, this episode is not for you. Sadly, if the riddled bodies of little children don’t change your mind, I know nothing I say will do so either, so don’t listen.
My audience for today’s episode are those grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and the public at-large who are tired of politicians extending their thoughts and prayers to the victims and the families of those killed at Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde, Buffalo, Boulder, Atlanta, Dayton, El Paso, Virginia Beach, Virginia Tech, Thousand Oaks, Pittsburgh, Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando, Roseburg, Oak Creek, Tulsa and elsewhere.
Thoughts and prayers mean nothing without action.
I know the power of people who join to make things happen. Think soccer moms. Think parents of children with autism.
If you are as enraged as I am that day after day the news is filled with reports of the slaughter of innocent people who should have been safe learning in their schools, praying at their houses of worship, shopping at their neighborhood grocery stores, and performing their duties in their work environments, then you can make a difference.
If you are as irate as I am that Congress has not passed legislation to minimize these killing fields, then you can make a difference.
If you are as furious as I am when you hear politicians say, “Guns are not the problem. Mental health problems are,” then you can make a difference.
Please continue to listen and I will show you how.
There is no doubt the lack of mental health services in the United States is a huge problem, but Guns ARE the issue I am addressing today. In particular, the AR-15, which is designed as a semiautomatic version of the military-grade M16. In fact, the AR-15 first was marketed to the military as a lighter weight version of the M16. It is the AR-15 … gunmen used in the most recent attacks in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa.
During the next few minutes, I will give you nine facts, I will ask you to think about five things, I will ask you to do five things to protect our children and grandchildren, and I will give you four resources. Don’t worry about taking notes. Links to the resources and support of the facts I cite are in the show notes.
Since I will be mentioning lots of numbers, the complete transcript is in the show notes as well.
FACTS
The gunman who massacred 19 young children and two teachers and wounded 17 others in Uvalde took more ammunitioninto Robb Elementary School than a US soldier takes into a wartime battle. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said the gunman fired 142 rounds at the children and around the school.
He legally bought two AR-15 rifles and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition in the days after his 18th birthday at a cost of about $4,000. Some reports say he saved money working at Wendy’s. Other reports say he bought the guns and ammunition on credit
Salvador Ramos took more ammunition into Uvalde elementary school than US soldier takes into battle | The Independent
Since the massacre in Uvalde May 24, 2022, there have been 21 mass shootings throughout the U.S. as if June 3, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/02/mass-shootings-in-2022/
According to Gun Violence Archive, from January 1, 2022, to June 3, 2022, 18,346 people have died from gun violence, which includes 222 mass shootings and 12 mass murders.
Of the more than 18,000 killed , 695 were children ages 17 years old and younger.
During that same period, 15,