Coffee, Guns or Me

I recently learned that there are almost twice as many gun dealers (one-hundred and twenty-seven of them) in Lee County where I live than there are coffee shops (just seventy).  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I was.  I kept having visions of people being hyped up on caffeine and then rushing out to buy a gun.  Silly, I suppose.  And one can't help but wonder who decided to compare these two types of business.  But still, it is a rather disturbing statistic.

I suppose that means it is easier to get a gun than to buy a cup of java--Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or otherwise.  I realize that the list of coffee shops probably didn't include other places you can buy coffee, like convenience stores or restaurants.  And I don't know about the gun dealers--did it include sporting goods stores that sell guns along with many, many other items?  I don't know.  But either way, it still is troublesome.

Speaking of sporting goods stores and the like, I must say while I am not a big fan of Wal-Mart, and I rarely step foot in a Dick's Sporting Goods Store, I was impressed by the actions taken by both chains over the last week, limiting in different ways, what kinds of guns they will sell and to whom.  Will it make things better when it comes to gun violence?  I don't know.  Probably in the end it won't.  After all, there are all those gun dealers out there.  But still, I applaud their willingness to take a stand, a stand that may cost them some sales.

I don't have any easy solutions to the gun violence dilemma.  Nobody does.  But we can all take whatever steps are within our power to help change things, whether you take your coffee black or sweet and light.  Even if you're a tea drinker.  There is something you can do.  Write a letter.  Join a protest march.  Work for better mental health care.  Now is not the time to take a coffee break--now is the time to take action.

To read more about the coffee shop/gun dealer ratio visit
https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2018/02/26/coffee-and-guns...