"What the little boy shot at."
Nothing.
My father used to say "What the little boy shot at" to mean a zero score in some game, or when he came up empty on a fishing trip. You don't hear the phrase anymore. We don't make light of little boys shooting.
There is a new rule of behavior across all demographics: Don't startle people. Don't scare people. Their first reaction may be to shoot.
We have seen a burst of news. A Black teenager rang a doorbell on the wrong house. The man inside saw the unexpected teen, and as he later told police, he was "scared to death." He had a gun ready, and shot the boy twice. A group of girls in a car pulled into the wrong driveway. The homeowner came out, and shot into the back window of the car as it was leaving. A passenger was killed. A family was playing basketball in the street when a ball rolled into a neighbor's yard. The neighbor shot the child's father in the back. In Texas a group of cheerleaders were using a grocery store parking lot to exchange cars for carpooling. One girl accidentally started to get into the wrong car. She realized her mistake and was apologizing when the man in that car began shooting. She was injured but survived. Her friend in a nearby car was killed.
My father's expression about what the little boy shot had a premise. A boy with a gun will be alert for situations when the gun is needed. Maybe he saw something move. He has a gun, so he shoots--at nothing. There is another expression in current use: "When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."
We are learning no one is immune from being a victim of a stand-your-ground, shoot-first gun carrier. It is dangerous to be a combination of male, dark-complected, physically large, and between the ages of 11 and 70. Prudent people in that demographic learn to avoid frightening people. When I was a young candidate going door-to-door meeting voters, I learned to ring the doorbell and then to step eight or ten feet back from the door.
But now I am 73. People call me "sir." I assumed I didn't scare anyone anymore. But this week I saw a short video, now circulating on YouTube. The woman says, "No male should ever approach a woman in a parking lot. Ever."
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I think she is over-reacting and unreasonable. She would disagree. Reasonableness isn't the point. People like her exist. She is a warning to accompany this week's stories about people with guns shooting on first encounter. Nearly anyone can buy and carry firearms. No permits or training are necessary and almost no one qualifies as a "red flag." Carry the gun on your hip or pocket. Have it ready.
It isn't just young Black men who need to walk on eggshells. Realize everyone is at risk. A basketball, a rolling shopping cart, turning around in a driveway--anything might trigger someone. People are arming up. Some people spook easily. Their first instinct may be to use the gun they have been carrying around just in case.
They have a hammer. You might be the nail.
We are experiencing a national insanity over guns and the irresponsible handling and use of same. Laws will not, of course, solve all our problems with this scourge of random and senseless violence. I am fortunate to have lived through 80 summers some of which I did not believe I would see the other side, But i know if something - like military style assault weapons were illegal and those laws save my family or loved ones from a terrible (and it is terrible- horrible) death or maiming, it is very much worth it! How is it possible that any human can witness or even read of the slaughter of innocent people, especially children, (MY GOD!) and not take action?
When I recently ran for Oregon State legislature. I was constantly harassed by the NRA. I totally ignored the evil group, however much I wanted to answer their numerous emails and phone calls with a tirade against all the evil harm they have done to our country by promoting guns for fun and profit ...valuing them like fetishes above the value and safety of our children and innocent people's right to live! We have allowed the loudmouthed fetishists to dominate for far too long and must change!