The horror of that day is beyond words. The senseless loss of life and the trauma inflicted upon innocent people is a stark reminder of the evil that exists in the world. However, as a staunch opponent of gun control, I see this tragic event not as a call for more restrictions on firearms, but as a painful illustration of why our right to bear arms is more important than ever. Let’s not forget that there were 800 police officers who were there, and yet none of this was prevented by their presence. It was average citizens who acted fast to subdue the attackers, and show the world what it really means to be an American.
The actions of the two deranged individuals who committed these horrible crimes do not reflect the values or behaviors of responsible gun owners. The shooters at the KC Chiefs parade were not deterred by the laws already in place. Dominic Miller, 18, and Lyndell Mays, 23, both black, face charges of second-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
I mention their race not because I want it to be relevant, but because the media and police department very clearly decided for us that it was relevant. Why else would they have not only refused to release both suspects' names claiming (falsely) that they were minors? Never mind that minor status stopped precisely no one from treating Kyle Rittenhouse as some sort of Midwest version of the lead in "We Need to Talk about Kevin." The fact is, it's obvious that when it came to the KC shooting, Coulter's Law was in full effect: the media hid the names of these vile criminals because they did not want the world to know that young black men were responsible. Rather than trying to bury the newsreading public's heads in the sands, I think we ought to instead ask why this kind of crime could have happened at the hands of young black men.
The Left loves to talk about gun rights as that "root cause," because that enables them to turn tragedy into power. But when it comes to people like these two suspects, the root causes are far more inconvenient for them: namely, that these two men came from a violent, fatherless subculture, which promotes selfish, deranged solipsism. That is not because black people are selfish, deranged solipsists, but because of the Left itself. Thomas Sowell nailed it when he analyzed the failures of the black community:
“A vastly expanded welfare state in the 1960s destroyed the black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and generations of racial oppression.
In 1960, before this expansion of the welfare state, 22 percent of black children were raised with only one parent. By 1985, 67 percent of black children were raised with either one parent or no parent.”
Oh, the times they are a-changin'... or not. Back in 1938, only 11% of black kids were born to unmarried women. By 1965, it bumped up to 25%, and now we're at a whopping 75%. Even during slavery, black children were more likely to be raised by both parents.
No dad in the picture? That's a recipe for a disaster cocktail: five times more likely to be poor, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and a staggering 20 times more likely to end up in prison. But hey, why worry about father figures when you can just marry the government thanks to our oh-so-generous welfare system? Enter stage left: white liberal academics like Professor Andrew Cherlin, preached in the '60s that fathers are basically just cash machines. According to his gospel, dads are optional as long as Uncle Sam steps in as sugar daddy. Brilliant!
And let's not forget, many of today's problems in the black community? They're not just souvenirs from the slavery and discrimination road trip. It's 2024, folks! Trillions have been thrown at poverty programs since 1965, but apparently, money can't buy societal change. Who knew?
To my sister, my nephew, and all those affected by the shooting, my heart goes out to you. Your pain is unimaginable, and your bravery in the face of such terror is commendable. But let us honor the victims not by eroding our freedoms but by upholding them, by fighting for a society where respect for life and liberty reigns supreme. The principles of liberty can only be defended however by a society that respects and reinforces the role of fatherhood. Without it, we’ll get more shiftless, violent minority subcultures who will effortlessly kill and maim dozens right before our eyes, and despite even a massive police presence.
As someone whose wife is 5 months pregnant with our first child, I think about fatherhood a lot. This shooting, the danger it posed to my immediate family, and the pressure of thinking about how to be a good father is weighing heavily. It’s too bad the fathers of these monsters who shot up the parade never gave it a thought themselves. Now their sons will pay the price. We should do what we can to limit the damage to the rest of society men like them can affect. We should do it for our sons, and daughters. Tupac famously wrote in his song, “Dear Mama” that he had “no love for my daddy ‘cause the coward wasn’t there.” For the sake not just of black kids, but all kids, the cowardice of one generation of men cannot be allowed to become the cruelty of another.
