Today is the day I’m going to talk about massacres.

According to TIME, a left-wing bastion of fake news (/s)*, today’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida is the 18th of 2018.

That’s cool. We’ve dispensed hearts & prayers out of the vending machine of transactional condolences like slipping lead slugs into any vending machine to cheat it out of its contents.

The current count, at 1852 hours Eastern from a press briefing occurring as I write this, is 17 dead. Children who won’t graduate this summer. Teachers who won’t pack their classrooms away for a few months for a well-deserved vacation.

I remember helping my 6th grade teacher pack up her classroom at the end of the year, because I had a crush on one of the other students she selected to assist. I didn’t realize that she had chosen my best friend and I to help out along with the other two female students because she was trying her hand at matchmaking.

I remember learning a lot about Black history from her, because she was from New Jersey, and appaled at the lack of Black history taught in a central Virginia elementary school. So I learned about the Tulsa Black Wall Street massacre during that year.

I’m not going to give a lesson here. Suffice it to say some White people got angry at Black folks, and shot up hundreds while burning down an entire section of Tulsa — the Black section.

Same story, different era.

Blacks have a long history with Oklahoma. I was honored to make my tiny contribution to that history yesterday, with a loss.

Amber Jensen is an Army spouse, 8-time cancer survivor, and small business owner who took on the Big Red Machine in the Panhandle by running for a vacant state senate seat.

This seat was vacated by a Republican who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Uber driver.

Who do you think 6,184 Oklahomans voted for? That’s right, gentle reader, another Republican.

So, while we may have lost, I gained new friends from this campaign, and looking forward to going once more into the breach with AJ4OK 2.0.

I say this because we are familiar with Republicans and gun violence. Hearts & Prayers (ka-ching), too soon to discuss gun violence (ka-ching), then…crickets. That sound you hear is NRA contributions being cashed.

Amber’s opponent authored or voted in the affirmative for bills like this:

SB40, which eliminates brandishing a firearm charge when a weapon is pointed at a suspected intruder in self-defense. It’s now Oklahoma law.

HB1390, allows municipal employees to carry in buildings that formerly prohibited firearms.

Of course, you have to have the proper training, so go online, because thanks to HB1391 you can take online firearms safety training courses to meet Oklahoma carry standards.

HB2660, prevents colleges and universities from establishing polices that prohibit the storage of certain weapons in motor vehicles. Didn’t the San Bernardino shooters have their weapons stored in their SUV, and excused themselves from the Christmas party to arm and armor themselves before massacring coworkers?

These are the laws that Amber’s opponent either voted on or authored himself. I’m sure they reflect core Oklahoma values.

However, when I reflect on core American values during Black History Month 2018, I’m thinking about how many black and brown Americans have died at the hands of law enforcement despite having the same right to legally carry as any other American; remembering the Black Codes that originally made it illegal for black and brown Americans to exercise their Second Amendment right which resonates to this day (thank you for being selectively silent, NRA); and regretting the militarization of law enforcement that led to an actual armoured vehicle parked on the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School earlier today.

Before any punks jump up to get beat down, remember my history: my dad was a cop, so yes, there were guns safely stored around the house. I am a decorated US Army combat veteran with a decade of service to my country.

I can be a patriot and a proponent of personal firearms carry while still condemning the slaughter of children.

The polarization that arises over the discussion of gun violence will be the death of us all.

I’m not saying that sarcastically (/s)*.

That’s from the heart. A heart that’s broken for Florida families who will grieve tonight rather than greet loved ones from a high school visited by violence.

I’m so sorry for your loss.