In Case You Missed it (v92)

Last week was a busy one here at veritable pastiche. Here's a recap of our seven posts, ICYMI. 

Things kicked off with the Part 1 of my series Yes, We Can Do Something, which I introduced at the end of the week before last. The series is about the things we can do, if we wanted to, about gun safety and gun control.  

Part 1 deals with the first half of the 2nd Amendment, and ways to create the well-regulated militia our founders mentioned. I don't propose banning guns, but I do recommend enhanced background checks, waiting periods, licensing requirements, new excise taxes, and training. 

• Mandatory education and training must be provided before every gun purchase or transfer is completed. The training must be specific to the gun, and include all aspects of gun ownership (carrying, transporting, using, and storing the gun and ammunition, etc.). The training must also include reports of gun owners hurting themselves or others, such as when kids and parents accidentally kill children, and accidental shootings in the leg, in the head, in the head, in the testicles, in the testicles, in the testicles, in the penis, in the foot, taking a selfie, defending a Muslim-free gun store, trying out his new holster, in the girlfriend, in the girlfriend, in the girlfriend, etc. It must also include video impact statements from survivors and from families of victims of mass shootings. Proof of successful completion of the training must be documented as part of the sale or transfer transaction. 

I know it sounds silly, but if we don't teach them the dangers of their toys, they could end up like the people they're going to learn about. 

Next up? Your regular visit to the Sunday School classrooms, where my attention was on the politicians who represent Uvalde, including Valde County Commissioner Ronald Garza; he was with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. 

He talked about the stuff making the news - the timeline(s), and the confusion on why folks didn't go in. He talked about the families and about the school building itself, where his dad was a teacher. And, there was this part, too.

Garza knows the family of the shooter, and said he has "no indication" as to any motive. He described the family as one that "value(s) church, they value hard work, known them for many years- great grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts." He also said what happened shouldn't be a reflection on the family.

You know, we raise our children, and we try to raise them in the right way. But - but sometimes our children have different thoughts, have different attitudes, personalities, but we do the best we can.

His pain was palpable, as should be ours. 

Part 2 of the Yes, We Can Do Something series came next; this part deals with gun crimes and punishment. I included some changes not directly related to school shootings, because Republicans, like Texans Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, like to talk about strict gun laws in Chicago whenever there's a mass shooting in their state. 

In addition to requiring mandatory minimum penalties for using a gun in a crime, which must be served - in full - before the sentence for the overarching crime is service, I proposed the following: 

• Require mandatory prosecution for holding or hiding a gun in order to protect another person from being charged with a gun crime. 

• Require mandatory prosecution when guns are found improperly secured or transported, such as during TSA checks, law enforcement stops, etc.

• Categorize all crimes in which a gun was used as 'non-bailable' federal offenses, and carve gun legislation out of the filibuster.

That last part would be fun, right? Treating gun crimes with the same level of importance as they do SCOTUS justices? 

Moving on to your Sunday School Extra Credit, we caught up with Rep. Dan Crenshaw. He doesn't represent Uvalde in Congress, but he's a Texan, so he got front-and-center treatment in the State of the Union classroom.

They talked about things we can do, such as universal background checks, which he opposes, and closing the gun show loophole, which he denies exists, and opposes, and red flag laws, which he opposes. On a national law 

You know, it's funny... You would think, from the trolls on the Internet, that I'm the number one advocate for red flag laws. That's a bit of a myth perpetuated by my own side. Now, truthfully, I think there's a lot of problems with red flag laws, especially at a national level.

He mentioned that "criminal law" should be decided at the local and state level, but "you have to look at these and wonder what the actual purpose is." 

And what about a red flag law in Texas? Um, that's also a 'no.'

and here's why, because what we are essentially trying to do with a red flag law is enforce the law before the law has been broken. And that's a really difficult thing to do. It's difficult to assess whether somebody is a threat. Now, if they're such a threat they're threatening somebody with a weapon already, well, then they have already broken the law, so why do you need this other law? That's the question that I think critics rightfully ask about these things.

More on Crenshaw in a minute.

In my Wondering on Wednesday musings, I focused on a post that popped up in my social media memories, one in which I compared my gardening to the gardening that Republicans have been doing, for years. 

Look at all the time they've spent - years, when you think about it - sowing seeds. Seeds of doubt. Seeds of hate. Seeds of fear. Seeds of anger. Seeds of rage. Seeds of control. Seeds of division. Seeds of conspiracy...

They're gardeners, carefully tending their crops, nurturing their harvest, and reaping the rewards.

 They're gardeners. Just like me.

Well, not just like me; I tend different crops, as I describe in the post. 

My wondering? Why has so little changed, with me or with them. I'm frustrated, still, and they're entrenched, still, 

And I wonder, is there a master gardener with the skills to guide us out of this mess, and help us achieve a more suitable design? Or, worse - are we stuck here?

Who is that gardener? It's easy to tell who it's not, that's for sure.

Remember Crenshaw and his lead-in to the red flag law conversation? I invited you to belly on up to the Sidebar for a deeper dive into that. Here's what he told Dana Bash.

You would think, from the trolls on the Internet, that I'm the number one advocate for red flag laws. That's a bit of a myth perpetuated by my own side. Now, truthfully, I think there's a lot of problems with red flag laws, especially at a national level.

What's up with his comment about Internet trolls? What would make them think he favors red flag laws? If I had to hazard a guess, it'd be because they found the found the tweets he sent in 2019, after the mass shooting in Dayton, OH, which was just a day after the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. Take a look.

"I supported them before I was against them," or something like that.  I also explored the TAPS Act in the post.

And finally, it was TGIF time - and after a lot of heavy lifting during the week, I chose to do an all 'good week' post. Here's one item that made the cut.

Keeping both oars in the water, there's a non-profit that's turning mining pollution into pigments that are used in paint. Rural Action, based in Ohio, works "to create environmental change in rural Appalachian communities." Contaminated water is collected, then a base and oxygen are added, creating pigments that are being used to make paint. You can see some of the artwork created with the paints here. This isn't 'new' news, but it's new to me and it's pretty cool.

I'll be back tomorrow with your Sunday School - we've got some pretty cool stuff of our own to do today. I'll have more for you in the Yes, We Can Do Something series this week, too.