I’ll just state it up front: evidently, about 35-40 percent of our population is a danger to themselves and us.
“Okay,” you reply, “where’s your evidence?”
Well, for starters, I’ve noticed a disturbingly large number of photos posted to social media recently by families displaying their arsenals as some kind of celebration of the Second Amendment. The most sickening ones are posed in front of Christmas trees, which, if I remember from my upbringing (a long time ago, I’ll admit) represent a celebration of Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men.
Here’s one posted by a Congressman (!) from Kentucky. Note that several of the weapons in this photo would, if functional, be illegal to own without a special license that I doubt the Congressman possesses. Or maybe he does. Perhaps he filled out the paperwork with the ATF, waited out the 9-12 month background check, paid $200 for his license and then shelled out the in excess of $20,000 such a weapon costs these days. Then, two days after the most recent school shooting resulting in the deaths of four children, he posts this grinning, grim image, including what appears to be his underage daughter holding a machine-pistol or replica. What’s his Christmas wish? “Bring ammo please, Santa!”
Yes, a large portion of the country seems to believe it is important that they arm their children, despite the tragic consequences that continue to result. The Crumbleys are simply the latest to be vaulted into national headlines for this, having reportedly decided that a 9mm handgun with multiple magazines would make an awesome Christmas present for their 15-year-old, emotionally-disturbed son. Probably thought it would “boost his confidence” or something. Here’s a suggestion for anyone else considering this; invest the $500 toward some sort of outdoor hiking program or even archery lessons. So far, no one has killed multiple children at a public school with a bow and arrows. Well, not yet, anyway.
First off, let me say that I am not “anti-gun.” My dad bought me a gun when I was 13 or 14. It was a bolt action .22 rifle with a 7 round magazine. He did not get me extra magazines. If I'd asked for something higher power that I could tuck in my waist-band with three or four extra magazines so I could fire off 40 or 50 rounds without having to pause to insert more bullets into the clip, he would have locked me in my room. Of course, the only handgun anyone in my extended family ever had was the one my uncle used to blow his own brains out when I was a kid. After that it always seemed poor form to want one.
There wasn’t a “gun culture” in those days. Folks who grew up on small farms in the depression, like my dad, generally had a rifle or shotgun because they remembered a time when it came in handy if you needed food. We actually ate squirrel stew once, my dad declaring that we should know what squirrel tasted like since he’d had to eat it as a kid. I’m guessing former National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre has never eaten home-cooked squirrel, by the way. However, I digress…
Anyway, Christmas came early to the Crumbley house this year. From the photo he posted on social media, Ethan received a SIG Sauer 9mm handgun with two or three extra magazines. Mom Crumbley joined the social media celebration, announcing she’d taken the kid to the shooting range the following Saturday. Santa may not have brought enough ammo, though. Ethan was caught using his cellphone during class to search for places to get more on the ensuing Monday. When notified by the school, Mother Crumbley ignored the matter except to text her boy to “learn not to get caught.” More on this in a moment.
I guess the Crumbleys figured the “woke liberals” at the school who were concerned by one of their students looking for 9mm ammo just didn’t understand “freedom.” Worse, those meddlers called them in the next day to express concern that Ethan was making drawings of stick figures covered with blood and annotations like “blood everywhere” and “help me.” Ma and Pa Crumbley walked out on that meeting. Hey, boys will be boys. Ideating mass murder is just normal adolescent behavior to them, apparently. And it’s not like he had a gun or anything. Oh, wait. Oops!
Give Ethan’s parents some credit: they finally realized there might be a problem with their son. Sure, it wasn’t until they heard the news of an active shooter at the high school, but they pretty quickly put two and two together and added it up to a mass casualty event with their kid as the perp. I wonder if Ethan ever saw the text his mom sent imploring “Don’t do it!” just after he’d killed several people.
The Crumbleys sprang into action. At some point they sprang into their brand new SUV and got the heck outta Dodge. Hey, maybe Ethan hadn’t learned yet, but Ma and Pa Crumbley knew the importance of that “don’t get caught” lesson. However, Ethan's parents apparently aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack. It seems their plan was to hide out until, I'm guessing their thinking went, "things blow over." Right. Give it a few weeks and folks will move on. Then slip into Canada to evade the long arm of the law. Extradition? Damn, that word's got a lot of syllables!
Then there's the tradecraft issue of not parking your vehicle—that's listed in multiple BOLOs and plastered on a US Marshal wanted poster—in front of the building in which you're hiding. Brainiacs. I'm betting the Coen brothers are jotting down notes on all this. These people make the perps in Fargo look intelligent.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to school officials who just sent the kid back to class when his parents refused to take him out of school. I've read as well that the school had a sheriff's deputy on site as a "resource officer." Might have been a good idea to get him involved. Maybe have him search Ethan’s backpack for, I don’t know, a gun? Then again, maybe the deputy was on a donut run.
One more thing. The Crumbleys reportedly are big fans of Donald “Jeanyus” Trump. Mrs. C wrote him a long letter of how grateful she was that he was standing up for their “freedom,” especially their freedom to be armed and dangerous. They’re not alone. Trump Republicans are falling all over themselves these days to display their arsenals and demand the “freedom” to carry their guns just about anywhere. Combined with their voter suppression efforts and January 6th insurrection attempt, it would appear they are intent on seizing power and cowing us into silence with escalating violence. As Senator Grassly underscored by spiking a bill to tighten background checks for gun purchases in the aftermath of the Oxford High School shootings, they don’t care if a few children get killed in the process.
As is the case with just about everything in our country these days, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
David Manuel
December 8, 2021
“Okay,” you reply, “where’s your evidence?”
Well, for starters, I’ve noticed a disturbingly large number of photos posted to social media recently by families displaying their arsenals as some kind of celebration of the Second Amendment. The most sickening ones are posed in front of Christmas trees, which, if I remember from my upbringing (a long time ago, I’ll admit) represent a celebration of Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men.
Here’s one posted by a Congressman (!) from Kentucky. Note that several of the weapons in this photo would, if functional, be illegal to own without a special license that I doubt the Congressman possesses. Or maybe he does. Perhaps he filled out the paperwork with the ATF, waited out the 9-12 month background check, paid $200 for his license and then shelled out the in excess of $20,000 such a weapon costs these days. Then, two days after the most recent school shooting resulting in the deaths of four children, he posts this grinning, grim image, including what appears to be his underage daughter holding a machine-pistol or replica. What’s his Christmas wish? “Bring ammo please, Santa!”
Yes, a large portion of the country seems to believe it is important that they arm their children, despite the tragic consequences that continue to result. The Crumbleys are simply the latest to be vaulted into national headlines for this, having reportedly decided that a 9mm handgun with multiple magazines would make an awesome Christmas present for their 15-year-old, emotionally-disturbed son. Probably thought it would “boost his confidence” or something. Here’s a suggestion for anyone else considering this; invest the $500 toward some sort of outdoor hiking program or even archery lessons. So far, no one has killed multiple children at a public school with a bow and arrows. Well, not yet, anyway.
First off, let me say that I am not “anti-gun.” My dad bought me a gun when I was 13 or 14. It was a bolt action .22 rifle with a 7 round magazine. He did not get me extra magazines. If I'd asked for something higher power that I could tuck in my waist-band with three or four extra magazines so I could fire off 40 or 50 rounds without having to pause to insert more bullets into the clip, he would have locked me in my room. Of course, the only handgun anyone in my extended family ever had was the one my uncle used to blow his own brains out when I was a kid. After that it always seemed poor form to want one.
There wasn’t a “gun culture” in those days. Folks who grew up on small farms in the depression, like my dad, generally had a rifle or shotgun because they remembered a time when it came in handy if you needed food. We actually ate squirrel stew once, my dad declaring that we should know what squirrel tasted like since he’d had to eat it as a kid. I’m guessing former National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre has never eaten home-cooked squirrel, by the way. However, I digress…
Anyway, Christmas came early to the Crumbley house this year. From the photo he posted on social media, Ethan received a SIG Sauer 9mm handgun with two or three extra magazines. Mom Crumbley joined the social media celebration, announcing she’d taken the kid to the shooting range the following Saturday. Santa may not have brought enough ammo, though. Ethan was caught using his cellphone during class to search for places to get more on the ensuing Monday. When notified by the school, Mother Crumbley ignored the matter except to text her boy to “learn not to get caught.” More on this in a moment.
I guess the Crumbleys figured the “woke liberals” at the school who were concerned by one of their students looking for 9mm ammo just didn’t understand “freedom.” Worse, those meddlers called them in the next day to express concern that Ethan was making drawings of stick figures covered with blood and annotations like “blood everywhere” and “help me.” Ma and Pa Crumbley walked out on that meeting. Hey, boys will be boys. Ideating mass murder is just normal adolescent behavior to them, apparently. And it’s not like he had a gun or anything. Oh, wait. Oops!
Give Ethan’s parents some credit: they finally realized there might be a problem with their son. Sure, it wasn’t until they heard the news of an active shooter at the high school, but they pretty quickly put two and two together and added it up to a mass casualty event with their kid as the perp. I wonder if Ethan ever saw the text his mom sent imploring “Don’t do it!” just after he’d killed several people.
The Crumbleys sprang into action. At some point they sprang into their brand new SUV and got the heck outta Dodge. Hey, maybe Ethan hadn’t learned yet, but Ma and Pa Crumbley knew the importance of that “don’t get caught” lesson. However, Ethan's parents apparently aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack. It seems their plan was to hide out until, I'm guessing their thinking went, "things blow over." Right. Give it a few weeks and folks will move on. Then slip into Canada to evade the long arm of the law. Extradition? Damn, that word's got a lot of syllables!
Then there's the tradecraft issue of not parking your vehicle—that's listed in multiple BOLOs and plastered on a US Marshal wanted poster—in front of the building in which you're hiding. Brainiacs. I'm betting the Coen brothers are jotting down notes on all this. These people make the perps in Fargo look intelligent.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to school officials who just sent the kid back to class when his parents refused to take him out of school. I've read as well that the school had a sheriff's deputy on site as a "resource officer." Might have been a good idea to get him involved. Maybe have him search Ethan’s backpack for, I don’t know, a gun? Then again, maybe the deputy was on a donut run.
One more thing. The Crumbleys reportedly are big fans of Donald “Jeanyus” Trump. Mrs. C wrote him a long letter of how grateful she was that he was standing up for their “freedom,” especially their freedom to be armed and dangerous. They’re not alone. Trump Republicans are falling all over themselves these days to display their arsenals and demand the “freedom” to carry their guns just about anywhere. Combined with their voter suppression efforts and January 6th insurrection attempt, it would appear they are intent on seizing power and cowing us into silence with escalating violence. As Senator Grassly underscored by spiking a bill to tighten background checks for gun purchases in the aftermath of the Oxford High School shootings, they don’t care if a few children get killed in the process.
As is the case with just about everything in our country these days, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
David Manuel
December 8, 2021
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