Thousand Oak Victims.

Sgt. Ron Helus

Cody Coffman

Justin Meek

Alaina Housley

Sean Adler

Blake Dingman

Noel Sparks

Telemachus Orfanos

Daniel Manrique

Noel Sparks

Kristina Morisette

Jake Dunham

     It has only been two weeks since I had to find a list of names to write, because they had been killed in a mass shooting. Two weeks, and once again here I am. These events are coming too often and too fast. Do you remember Parkland, Maryland, or the church shooting in Texas? How about Pittsburgh? Yeah, that one was two weeks ago. Seems like a lifetime doesn't it. All those others were this year as well. This most recent general election is the one the kids from Parkland were talking about when they said they wanted their voices heard. 

     Depending on where you read it, the number varies, but one thing is certain. This shooting was numbered in the 300's for this year. There have been over 300 mass shootings in this country this year so far, and we still have two months to go. The definition of a mass shooting differs, but one strict definition that was used in the past by the government was, that 4 people shot and killed in an incident was considered a mass shooting. Using that definition a minimum of 1200 people have been killed in mass shootings this year, and trust me, that number is actually low.

     How many people have to die before our leaders say that, it doesn't matter how much money a lobbyist gives me, I can't afford one more life. It appears that we have yet to hit that number. So far 12,494 people have been killed by guns this year. That number still appears to be too low for anyone to do anything. You will see people saying that it is too soon to talk about reforming the laws, creating safer measures so that certain people can't get their hands on guns. You will see "thoughts and prayers" and a whole lot of inaction, because the number still isn't at a point that everyone goes, "you know what, we've lost enough", but that number isn't 12,494. It probably won't be 13,000. I'm sure we can hit that by the end of this month. 13,000 people will be dead by the end of this month, and still that isn't enough. What is it going to take?

     I wish I had the answer to that question. I know what that the number was reached for me a long time ago, but I can only voice my opinion, and cast my vote, with the hopes that the person I chose was the person that will finally say that the number is too high and something has to be done about it. 

     I know I have been pushing a lot about voting, and I'm going to do it one more time. If you aren't registered to vote, please register. The next election is only a year away, and then the presidential election is a year after that. Yeah, it will seem like next year will mean nothing, because it will mostly be local elections that are going on, but it all starts at the local level. If you want change, you have to start there. Please, please, please register to vote. I don't care what party you affiliate yourself with, or who you vote for, just vote. 

      I would love to have had this just be a fun little post about what is going on in my life, but life gets in the way, and today was a whole lot of that. I'm going to do a special Friday night edition to fill you in on all the other stuff, so I will see you tomorrow. Peace in and goodnight.