This past weekend I did something I haven’t done in over a year: I went to the mall. OK, the Domain, so it’s outdoors, but still. It was a milestone. I clomped around looking for something cute to wear for my birthday on Sunday (no luck), and I bought my first pair of glasses with progressive lenses (I plan to skip candles and stencil “OLD AF” in frosting on top of my birthday cake instead). Afterward, my two best friends and I went for burgers and sat in the sun, soaking up the blissful ordinariness of it all.
Less than 24 hours later, at an apartment complex near the Arboretum shopping complex, former Travis County Deputy Stephen Broderick allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife, her high school-age daughter, and her daughter’s boyfriend, a young athlete.
I cannot fathom the grief their families must feel right now. And yet – and I mean no disrespect to the victims or their families when I say this – there is a terrible ordinariness to this tragedy. On Sunday alone, there were 174 instances of gun violence across America, four of which constituted mass shootings – in Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin – as reported by the indispensable Gun Violence Archive. Gun violence did not go away during the pandemic, but as we all start emerging from our cocoons, it certainly feels like it’s accelerating.
The solution for this runaway violence – according to Texas Republicans, at least – is to make guns even more accessible; see their 2020 state party platform, which aims to “Restore Firearms Freedom” by unshackling handgun owners from the awesome burden of having to procure a permit to carry their guns, openly or concealed, and which opposes any checks on possession and carry, including “government-mandated location restrictions such as those in K-12 schools.”
I don’t think there’s any talking sense into the Texas GOP, a ruling party that has somehow convinced its followers that they’re the oppressed ones, in the same kind of unhinged, up-is-down logic that defined the Trump era. But I earnestly ask gun owners: Do you honestly think we don’t have a problem? Do you really think you’re the victims here?
ONLINE THIS WEEK
“I’m From Here”: At Saturday’s Stop Asian Hate vigil and rally, the AAPI community and allies gathered in solidarity to protest rising violence. See the story and a full photo gallery online at austinchronicle.com/photos.
“The Sky Doesn’t Fall When You Stop Arresting People for Pot”: Kevin Curtin talks to Council Member Greg Casar about progress with eliminating possession arrests.
Points for Pluckiness? Austin FC lost 2-0 in its first-ever match, but there was still plenty to commend the brand-new team in its season opener in Los Angeles.
Junking Junk Science: James Scott previews aGLIFF’s film presentation and post-screening Q&A of documentary Cured, about the campaign that ultimately led the American Psychiatric Association to remove “homosexuality” from its list of mental illnesses in 1973.
Eat Like a Cat: Make a recipe from Petite Feasts, the new cookbook for humans by Fancy Feast, purveyor of “gourmet” cat food. Or … you know … don’t.
This article appears in April 23 • 2021.
