Another mass shooting in the US, and again the inevitable way people on the internet deal with tragedies like this. They all want a convenient, quick, easy solution, a thing to blame. Next thing I know, I’m reading comments on Irish news sites aimed at Irish people saying (and this is a direct quote from TheJournal.ie) : “Responsible gun owners are merely those who have not yet killed another human being”.

So apparently, despite the fact that every licenced firearms owner in Ireland is personally vouched for by a Garda Superintendent or Chief Superintendent, and has gone through more rigorous checks than any other normal citizen goes through, I’m apparently a baby-murderer-in-waiting.

Forget the medals won for my country in an Olympic sport. Forget the hundreds of people I’ve helped to train to take part in my sport safely. Forget that we’ve had an accident-free record since the 1800s in Ireland. We’re baby-murderers according to a lot of the nice folks calling for “debate” on gun control laws – and if we object, then we’re even worse than baby-murderers, we’re obviously gun fetishists who want to arm teachers and all the students as a solution, who think that more guns automatically solves all problems, and who are so blinkered and/or stupid that we’re not worthy of having a voice in the debate.

Meanwhile, most of us are sitting there wondering when the hell we forgot about the 20 children and got so focused on this ever-so-special debate, led by the great posters on the internet who are leading the charge to save society from the evil gun owners who have no interest in seeing children safe and innocent and free from harm. (We kill puppies and hate rainbows in our spare time, just so as you know).

Me, I don’t particularly feel comfortable with the loudest rabblerousers leading a lynch mob from a graveyard as being how we do things, but hey, who’d listen to me? I just want to kill your kids, apparently.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hug my 8-month-old son before I have to murder him…