When I still had the gun, however, I would bring it in the house every so often to clean it. To imagine myself firing it. Some days, I took it to school with me. But then I would go into the military and learn so much about guns, I would want to abandon them forever. I would read Rage and wonder why, with so much beauty in the world, men choose to... See more

Here are even more things I think about: standing in the window of my dorm and looking down. Feeling small and afraid. Of the war. Of the world. Of how to make my way in it.

I think of the student in my writing class who wrote an essay about his school getting shot up. How he knew the kid who did it. How they all walked around afterward as if some... See more

despite conservatives’ dog-whistles about crime rates in Democrat-controlled “urban areas,” predominantly white rural areas experience astronomical rates of violent crime. Even with large “Blue” cities removed, the gap in violent crime between Red and Blue states persisted. The top 20 counties, for rates of gun violence, are all in the rural South.... See more

Conservatives have been proudly posting with their guns since time immemorial. But now, the United States’ firearm obsession has transcended party lines, infiltrating the social media posts of (mostly white) “girls” (women) and the seemingly left-leaning. In an online world where sincerity is dead, posting with a gun—flouncy, frilly dress and... See more