Orlando Mass Shooting at Pulse Nightclub

Orlando.

By now, everyone has spoken out against the absolute horror that struck a town not too far from our headquarters.  The temporary Facebook profile pics are up, the hashtags are flowing, the gun control debate is raging, the anti-Muslim rhetoric increasing… this is how we do this.  Someone takes a gun into a crowded place, shoots people, and the best we can do is add a profoundly captioned black and white selfie to Instagram, or perhaps a skyline shot.  It’s noise, and we are fooling ourselves if we think it is making a difference.

So, rather than contribute to the noise, we want to suggest real action you can take, to help Orlando and to help society.

TALK TO PEOPLE.

Don’t tweet or post or snap. Look at someone in the eyes and have a real conversation about guns, about hate, about terror and fear.

Incidents like these can be very isolating, and members of the LGBTQ community are already often the victims of exclusion and isolation. So talk to your friends who identify as LGBTQ. A genuine conversation will go a lot further than your hashtag.

WRITE AN EMAIL OR A LETTER.

In America, you can go to a gun show, and buy an assault-style rifle without a background check, and this is legal.  You can go to a dealer, pull out some cash, and pick up a semi-automatic without even producing an ID.  Easier than picking up a 6-pack of some craft brew. If this seems stupid to you, it’s because it is.

Is your Congressman or woman checking out your Twitter? Looking at trending hashtags? No, no they are not. But maybe if enough of us let them know that we’re sick of this, they’ll do something about how ridiculously easy it is to acquire a firearm that can kill hundreds of people in a matter of minutes.  Gun control is just that—gun CONTROL.  Not gun elimination. 

Here’s a quick guide to contacting your Congressman.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.

49 people lost their lives Sunday morning. They didn’t go to Pulse that night asking for their eventual victimization to become a talking point in America.  They were real people with friends and families and dogs and cats and jobs and hopes and dreams. Now their families suddenly have to maneuver through funerals and cleaning out apartments and trying to figure out how they are supposed to put one foot in front of the other each day.  Send a couple bucks their way. Here’s a legit GoFundMe that will help those family members.

And learn just a little bit about the victims here.

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There’s a lot more that we want to say from behind our Macbook screens, but honestly, we are sick of all of the talk.  Let’s actually do something this time.

Photo Credit:ABC 7 Eyewitness News