This is a guest post by  Harrison Smith – an avid supporter of his Mother and all of her fanciful endeavours.

First things first…

I might as well preface this article by letting you know a few things about myself:

• I’m not good at this writing malarkey.
• There are few (if any) things in life that I adore and respect more than my marvellous Mother, who has sacrificed a great deal for me (which she doesn’t ever shut up about, as you can imagine…)
• I’m 22 years of age.
• I work in the tech industry, specifically Website and App Development (hit me up  if you’d like any paid 😉 assistance in that regard #shamelessplug)
• I am an amateur boxer and hold the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire heavyweight champion belt.

I think that about covers things. Let’s get into it.

I was recently made aware of a private message my Mother received in response to her last post: Playing With The Big Guns

Within this message, a concerned reader informed Jules that the post in question was – in her own words – “Not appropriate under the circumstances”. Had this been a kind and well thought through message offering advice on writing blogs to her primarily American audience, there would be no problem and no need for my post today.

This was however not the case. To give readers some context, whilst affording myself the ability to refute specific arguments made within the message, and to accurately portray the point of view of the messenger, I will be posting it below – omitting the personal details:

Anon writes:

We “mericans” just witnessed the most horrific mass-shooting in our history less than 2 weeks ago. Google Las Vegas, in case somehow you missed it. 58 people died, 500 wounded. Many remain in critical condition. Imagine if  Harrison, your Mom, or any one of your friends were “taken down” by an assault rifle at a Country Concert. Wouldn’t be so glamorous then, would it? 

Bags of spent ammo, shoulder black and blue bruises and comments about high powered guns are not something to find amusing at the moment. Think about it from a different perspective, then do something about it. Take it all down and find another subject matter far less offending would be my suggestion…

I shall be addressing the author of the above message as Anon throughout the rest of this post, using they instead of a more sufficient pronoun – not out of disrespect, but out of concern for their privacy which is only right.

Before we begin

I’m going to address Anon’s specific arguments in due course, but allow me some time to give my feelings as to the message as a whole.

I am sure I also speak for my Mother when I say that the recent events in Las Vegas – no matter your political leanings, nationality, stance on gun control, and so on – were tragic and sick.

Without a doubt, those responsible for the hideous assault on human life that occurred October 1st, are despicable, repugnant and evil to the core.

I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to all of my American Brothers and Sisters. I carry a huge deal of respect and love for your great country, and hearing of such a tragic incident filled me with remorse and sorrow. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

I shouldn’t have needed to make the above statement – it is self-evident that any human being with respect for life (not to mention a Briton of whose nation shares a deep history with yours) would think this way.

Unfortunately the demeaning message Anon sent to Jules seems to imply that there is some doubt about her feelings towards this recent tragedy. I want to state firmly and clearly that I believe said implication to be an immensely disrespectful and slanderous insult that has no place coming from a self-proclaimed “dear friend”. Completely and utterly out of order.

Onto specifics

Let’s move through this piece by piece, shall we?

“I feel compelled to point out the obvious this morning. You are far smarter than this and apparently not thinking clearly, so I send this note privately.”

Whilst not an argument to refute, I’d just like to thank Anon for being so kind as to send this note privately to avoid (apparently) embarrassing Jules.

It’s always nice to wake up to unsolicited advice on ways you could live up to standards set by others, especially when you’re obviously not thinking clearly.

“Not appropriate under the circumstances, discussing how much fun you’re having playing with guns (big ones).”

Perhaps Anon does not understand the idea behind this website. As the developer who created the lovely (if I may say so) website you’re currently viewing – please accept my sincere apologies if this was not branded clearly enough as the personal blog of an author with the sole purpose of writing (for free) content related to her own life and experiences.

I must admit I am finding it difficult to understand how you seemingly came across the notion that this website was in any way created as a place to discuss politics or world news. It seems to me that, considering there has yet to be one political statement or commentary on world events, you’d have caught on by now.

To state this more concisely: If the content within this website – pertaining to the events of a single person – offends you in any way, then please feel free to visit the plethora of alternative websites on the internet.

My Mother is free to express herself in any way she deems appropriate when writing on her own website, and if you happen to enjoy and value her material, we welcome you with open arms to have a place within the community we’ve managed to build over the years. This is why when she asked me to remove the post I refused.

“We “mericans” just witnessed the most horrific mass-shooting in our history less than 2 weeks ago. Google Las Vegas, in case somehow you missed it. 58 people died, 500 wounded. Many remain in critical condition. Imagine if  Harrison, your Mom, or any one of your friends were “taken down” by an assault rifle at a Country Concert. Wouldn’t be so glamorous then, would it? Now take a fresh look at your FB Profile photo and your latest Blog.”

I’d like to begin with clarifying that the term “mericans” is used in jest. Though I won’t complain about Anon’s concerns with this terminology as I have experienced the differences in British and American humour first hand.

I believe I’ve addressed the point surrounding the Las Vegas shooting sufficiently within my preface. Though if there is any clarification required, anyone reading this is more than welcome to respond within the comments section below.

My first issue with this section of the message is where Anon draws an equivalency between shooting in a controlled environment, for fun and the purposeful murder of over 50 innocent people. How you could possibly connect these separate events is beyond me.

Take a moment to posit the following hypothetical scenario:

A terrorist has made their way into the capital city of the United Kingdom, London. They are intent on killing innocent people to further their sick and deluded ideology. 

This terrorist decides to use a car to mow down innocent people, succeeds in killing 40+, wreaking havoc and causing mass hysteria within the city for the next several days.

Given the (not so) hypothetical scenario above, I wonder if Anon would make sure all of their friends who enjoyed writing about cars knew just how insensitive and offensive their own personal interests were.

I hope that Anon would understand that in this situation, showing an interest in driving or owning cars, wouldn’t mean that the person was insensitive to the totally unrelated mowing down of innocent civilians by a terrorist. But I must admit that I’m not holding out too much hope…

I have another issue with the above segment; Jules is visiting a country that has specific laws legalising the ownership of various weapons – some of which were mentioned within the ‘offending’ post. Now, whether you are a firm proponent of the 2nd amendment, or would like guns to be completely banned, you cannot possibly suggest that a tourist, visiting from a country that banned firearms (for the most part), is insensitive or in the wrong for exploring the differences within cultures.

I’m not going to discuss either Jules’ or my own beliefs surrounding the 2nd amendment and gun ownership within The United States as this isn’t a place intended for political discussion.

I would, however, suggest that Anon reflect upon their intentions when writing this message. Perhaps (this is just an idea) their time would be better spent trying to improve the world around them in such a way that would decrease the probability of events like the one in Las Vegas from occurring again, instead of directing their frustration towards a British author and blogger that just so happens to enjoy shooting guns – and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?

“Bags of spent ammo, shoulder black and blue bruises and comments about high powered guns are not something I want to look at, nor find amusing at the moment. Think about it from a different perspective, then do something about it. Take it all down and find another subject matter far less offending would be my suggestion…”

Forgive my language but it’s just more of the same bollocks really. With the extra bonus of a demand to meet Anon’s impeccable moral character by removing the post that took time to write and – hopefully – provided those who aren’t uptight drama queens with some value and enjoyment.

I’ll end this with the following suggestion: if Anon finds a particular post to be “not something I want to look at, nor find amusing”, perhaps the best action to take would be just not to look at it. Seems a bit obvious to me.

I hope anyone who took the time to read this rather lengthy rant found it to be, if not well-written or enjoyable, at least an interesting glimpse into the life and subsequent drama of this particular blogger. And maybe some of you (I’m looking at you Anon) learned a valuable lesson in relaxing and taking a chill pill once in a while.

I for one have had a rather refreshing and cathartic experience writing this – I’m used to fighting with fists but I think I could get a grip on this writing business, so long as it’s as fascinating as todays post has been!

And one last note, my Mother is more than capable of defending herself, as I’m sure you’re all aware, but I wanted to be in her corner with this and she allowed my request to write a rebuttal post.

I’ll check comments periodically if any of you would like to further discuss the above, or just want to say something along the lines of “You rock Harrison!”. 😉

Over and out.