How many more must die? Will the 20 dead innocent kindergarten children and 6 innocent adults at the Newtown Connecticut elementary school be the catalyst for sensible gun control?
The innocent 32 people that died at Virginia Tech weren’t. The 6 dead at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin weren’t. The 12 dead in Aurora, Colorado weren’t. The 12 students and 1 teacher in Columbine, Colorado weren’t. The shooting near Texas A&M in College Station wasn’t. The shooting at the Portland Mall wasn’t. The Gabby Gifford’s shooting wasn’t. The Fort Hood shooting wasn’t. One could go on and on. These high profile shootings in America occur every few months, twice this week alone.
All these tragedies received much news coverage. They occur in places one would not expect them to occur. Sadly, in America today and every day of the year, over 30 people will be murdered throughout this country. Many of these murders will occur in inner cities like Chicago or Newark. Yet, these killings will receive very little coverage. The victims are just as dead. They feel the same pain. They are children, adults, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces, nephews, and every familial permutation.
The anger, sorrow, and despair we feel for those innocent children and adults that were killed today are the same emotions we should feel every day of the year, for this tragedy occurs every day of the year. Children going to school in New Orleans live the fear that every one of those children in Newtown Connecticut will now live with every day they go to school; the fear of a gun. Many children watching the news with their parents in wonderful neighborhoods throughout the country will now live the fear.
Americans are no more violent than the Canadians, the British. The French, the Swiss, or any other civilized country. Yet, our murder by gun is likely the highest in the civilized world. The NRA sympathizers love to use the phrase, “Guns don’t kill. People do”. This is the most disingenuous of statements. When guns are available it makes killing that much easier. Period.
Here is the reality. The blood of thousands of American citizens is on the hands of the NRA. The blood of our brothers and sisters is on the hands of our timid politicians who refuse to pass sensible gun laws for the fear of an uncaring NRA forcing them out of office. The blood of all those that have died from being shot is on the hands of those on the Right, that even as they claim to be supporters of life, continue to support that which kills, not only with guns but with policies.
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More laws against guns is like lowering the school speed limit from 25 to 15 when people are driving 50 and thinking you’ve helped. If you want to stop the killing, start at the beginning, improve the conditions that lead our society to value status and the dollar more than life. Stop glorifying bloodshed in movies and video games. Provide care for the mentally ill instead of pretending they don’t exist. Quit creating higher numbers of people living in poverty and then marginalizing the poor while the rich get richer. Enforce felony laws that are already on the books. Quit making police departments pay minimum wage and still cut back on personnel. I’m a liberal democrat who voted for Obama but in this day and age, there is no way you’ll take my gun and leave me at the mercy of those criminals, politicians, and ignorant do gooders who believe we should all be victims.
You left our controlling our mentally ill. In our overeaching attempts to be a fair and just society we have extended equal rights to people who cannot handle them. Bring back the insane asylums of the 1940s.
Actually I didn’t. Providing care for the mentally ill includes providing a controlled environment. Anyone who wants to return to the days of “The Snake Pit” deserves to experience one.