Today I joined a few friends on the sidewalk outside of new gun store in the neighborhood to protest the sale of handguns. Actually it is not new. The father of the present owner had a gun store there for years. When Federal government used to keep track, this store was number one is in the country for sale of handguns used in crime. The father lost his federal license and one of his son, changing the name, got a licensee and sold guns there. After the guns purchased there were used to shoot local police officers and there were numerous violations the son lost his license. Now the store is owned by his brother, the son of the original owner, and is a gun club ready to start selling guns again.
At first I parked my car at the very end of the big empty parking lot between the store and the sidewalk where we were. The new owner of the store came out and said I would need to move my car from the almost empty lot, since I was carrying a sign protesting gun violence and he owned the parking lot. So I moved my car across to the street to a large unpaved parking area. As I was getting out of my car a man from the nearby fast food restaurant approached me and said that he owned the lot and because of my sign I could not park in his lot. So I moved my car to the fast food parking lot where it sat until we were done.
Finally I got to stand on the sidewalk with my sign when I a car with two young men came by, stopped the car and yelled out the winter that I was the cause of gun violence. He did not stay around to explain how gun violence is my fault but sadly I heard this same thought expressed before.
When I was working to stop the military from setting shop at a local Catholic high school, a teacher from the school who I knew and was opposed to the military called me and said that I should stop and that if I continue my questioning it would be my fault if the military came to the school and I would be responsible for the lost of her job.
Recently when I was trying to encourage some of the ‘million dollars’ taken from the sale of Catholic church in the north central area be used to serve to people in need in the area. I wrote one letter to the parish Council of the Church and the Corporation Board of the Church, the real owners and decision makers. A few persons already have told me that by bringing attention to the money the new church inherited I was hurting the possible use of the money for people in need. If the money was not spent the way it was intended it would be my fault.
So gun violence which I oppose, military in Catholic schools which I oppose or taking money from people in need in a neighborhood which I oppose are ‘my fault’ if they happen since I opposed them. We have all heard about blaming the messenger for the message but we now we got “It’s your fault” if what you oppose happens.
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