It's Not Supposed To Be Like This

This is probably going to be a long one, so this is your warning. This is going to be about guns, ammunition, our babies and loved ones being innocent victims of senseless crimes and our many broken systems that need change. If you do not want to read it, scroll on by.

Uvalde, Texas. Robb Elementary School. 19 children and two teachers. The latest gut wrenching, senseless act of malice against innocent human life. These poor kids, teachers and parents had their lives forever changed yesterday by the hands of an 18-year-old punk ass kid who decided that he just wanted to show up at an elementary school and

start shooting. His motive is unknown right now, but whatever it comes out to be, it will not make sense to those kids, the survivors and all their families as well as the nation.

Right now, politicians, parents, celebrities, just everybody is calling for stronger gun laws, gun reformation, etc. There is so much finger pointing going on and we really just need to stop, shut the fuck up and figure something out because this is NONSENSE. Grocery stores, churches, schools, malls, the list goes on and on and on and on.

Today I was talking to my father-in-law about the reformation(s), whatever it/they might be, or not be and I got an idea… the ammunition. What about the ammunition? Now, hear me out here before you go hating on me, okay. What is the gun without the ammunition? Still a weapon, but just a blunt force type of weapon, right? I am not saying take away all the ammunition, but we have laws on purchasing guns, why are there no, or very few, laws on purchasing ammunition?

Let’s look at this situation. POS baby killer (not saying his name because he does not deserve that) turns 18 and legally buys two AR rifles from a federally licensed gun store on two different days (May 17th – the day after his birthday and May 20th). On May 18th, he purchased 375 rounds of 5.56 caliber ammunition. THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE ROUNDS. Hold on, let me say that again. 375 rounds of ammunition. Why, the hell, does he need that much ammunition? Why, the hell, is he purchasing this many weapons, and ammunition, so quickly?

So, here is my thought. America recognized we were having a methamphetamine epidemic and realized we needed to take action to hopefully stop the ability of users and, or manufacturers from getting certain products to make methamphetamines in their makeshift labs, right? Here comes the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. I know all of you chronic allergy and sinus sufferers know what I’m talking about here… The “good” cold meds with pseudoephedrine that were sold over the counter were being swooped up by the street pharmacists and used for their meth making. So, this law moved the sale of these over-the-counter meds to be from locked cabinets or to be from behind the pharmacists’ counters. It also requires a photo ID and requires the retailers to keep the customers information on these purchases. The law also limits the amount that individuals can purchase. So there is this federal register that logs all these purchases so that they are limited based on this law. Now, reasonably, I know meth did not magically disappear because of this. But it was a way to keep one easy to reach ingredient away from people who “needed” it.

Another example of a registry, but on a state level is a vaccination registry. This is not something that is done on a national level but is done within each state’s health department. My daughter needed an updated vaccine form before she could officially be registered for her senior year of high school but needed one final vaccination. I got an email reminder from the school nurse for this, and she told me just to let her know when this was done because she could jump on the site and verify the updated vaccination record. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

A quick search of ammunition laws found next to nothing. There are SIX states that have laws regulating ammunition sales or require background checks. Those states are New York, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Reviewing each state, none of them have limits. They either require background checks or having a card or certificate proving they can lawfully purchase or possess firearms and/or ammunition. Some states have minimum ages (YIKES, Idaho and Maine are 16 years old) but NONE have any limits on amount. (Cite: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/ammunition-limits-by-state)

My thought is that if we can have centralized registries for things like pseudoephedrine and vaccines, whether they are on a national level, state level, or better yet, BOTH, why don’t we have something for ammunition? And why do we not have a limit on the amount of ammunition we can purchase? Why did this kid need 375 rounds of ammunition? Why would anyone need that much ammunition? If you tell me it’s for hunting, I think you might need to try some shooting practice because that is A LOT of bullets. Unless you are planning on coming across an entire herd of like 500+ angry deer or something.

Just a thought that came to me today. I have many more on the subject including me basically begging people to stop destroying our already broken mental health system and putting locks on every single door on every single school in America and letting no one in. Sorry, the open-door policy has got to go. All jokes aside, my heart is simply broken for Uvalde. I am just a mom up here in Iowa, but my heart hurts and I wish

I could hug each and every single one of you. You deserve better. Your babies deserved better. Your teachers deserved better. The surviving kids, families, staff, and teachers deserve so much better. We need to do better. This must stop.

#saveourbabies #saveourteachers #stopschoolshootings #mentalhealthawareness #kids #babies #parents #schools #texas #uvalde