A Simple Way To End The Gun Debate

Every time there's one of these senseless massacres, I tweet the same goddamned thing:

"Please release the crime scene photos!"

Just think of how the public would respond to seeing actual photographs of the children with their heads blown off.

With their little chests ripped apart by military rounds.

With their faces frozen into absolute horror as they died in an obscene frenzy of violence.

The idea of it is horrifying!


Yes, it would be gruesome.
Yes, it would be outrageous.
Yes, it would be very painful to the families of the victims.

And yes, it would have an immediate effect on the national discussion over gun control!

One of the ways gun supporters and the NRA have gotten so many politicians to vote for absolute free and nearly unfettered access to military-grade weapons is because the images we see in media are whitewashed of any of those things.

Imagine for an instant what the unified public reaction to images of the Parkland dead or the Newtown victims being shown as they lay in their classrooms; their lives torn from them because as a nation we can't seem to comprehend what most of the world easily knows.

That widespread easy access to guns inevitably results in increased violence!

Look at Australia. They suffered a horrific massacre in Port Arthur, where 35 people were killed in a senseless gun attack. This resulted in the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, restricting the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns as well as introducing uniform firearms licensing. It was implemented with bipartisan support by the Commonwealth, states and territories.

They worked together on passing this legislation.

It put an immediate end to this kind of tragedy.

For over 20 years, Australians have enjoyed the relative freedom of not being shot whilst going about their business, at least making gun violence as rare as, I dunno, being struck by lightning or choking to death on a kangaroo steak. (I actually don't know the odds of either of those two possibilities, but I expect they're quite remote, as is the possibility of those little kids from down under being gunned down in 3rd grade mathematics!)

So, what's it going to take to get the gun-toting NRA supporters to see the results of their fascination with military-grade weaponry?

Two ways, I think.

One, is for some of the parents of murdered children to publicly call for the release of the photos of their dead child, in order to perhaps make some sense of their deaths. It would be difficult for sure. But then again, I've seen enough interviews with bereaved parents to know that there are some who are so angry they would absolutely want to share the horrible photos of the crime scene in the hope that it will possibly result in effective gun legislation. And it might give them some comfort that their child's death has some meaning in preventing future attacks.

The other is for some law-enforcement or government employee who has had enough of seeing those photos as a requirement of their job to take a leap of faith and leak the photos to someone who has the cajones to release them into the public eye. A thumb drive plugged into the right USB port on the right computer for a minute or so may save countless kids from future attacks. (I would totally be willing to take the hit for releasing data like that, especially if it results in legislation that saves lives.)

This will have the immediate effect of getting the obscene reality of these killings into the minds of every single NRA-sponsored Congressman or Senator. And in the minds of the voters who will decide if they should continue to support them.

And then, those legislators will have to answer horribly awkward questions from EVERYONE about why they aren't doing ANYTHING about stopping this epidemic of gun-caused violence!

The world will change just a little bit, in that instant.

And sometimes, all it takes for history to change is just one, small, courageous step.

This could be that step!

When the mid-terms get really ramped up in the fall, Donald Trump will manufacture a reason to go to war with somebody, as he's already said that a war will be good for the Republicans.

Imagine if these photos were released two weeks before the election!

Every SINGLE legislator who took money from the NRA will be spending a lot more time at home.