It happened again.
Another horrific school shooting. The cold-blooded murder of 19 second-, third- and fourth-graders and two teachers. And our response: shock, outrage and tears initially, and then the almost robotic “thoughts and prayers” response. We also saw an emotional, passionate speech on the Senate floor by Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, along with an angry press conference from an NBA basketball coach, Steve Kerr, whose own father was murdered by terrorists in Lebanon while serving as President of American University of Beirut. And we were also shown flashbacks of the Sandy Hook shooting and President Obama wiping tears from his eyes as he talked about the senseless murder of children and educators at that time, as well as clips of the El Paso, Orlando and too-many-to-remember other mass shootings.
It is very easy to be disgusted by the lack of action by our elected officials. How is it that we live in the only country in the world where this carnage happens regularly, thanks to the shockingly easy availability of assault rifles and other instruments of war, along with the new innovation for mass shooters, protective body armor?
Let’s dispense with Republican and Democrat debates for a moment. When that gunman walked into that school in Uvalde, he didn’t ask those little kids what their politics were and what they thought of the NRA. He just pulled the trigger, and children died needlessly. Enough resistance to change and stubborn inaction on the Republican side. Enough blaming the Republicans and failing to do anything to make a difference on the part of the Democrats. Republican or Democrat. Trump or Hillary supporter. Liberal or Conservative. None of that matters. As an elected official, your inaction has made you complicit. Plain and simple.
Is this ever going to end?
Remember, COVID is a natural pandemic over which we have to react and hope to be able to harness all of our medical knowledge to limit the pain. But, we are seeing another real pandemic and, shockingly, we know the cause and the cure and we have failed to do anything to stop it!
And what should we do? If we had another community meeting, we would be “preaching to the choir” who already are fed up and want change. We can continue to write editorials and listen to podcasts that show our outrage. We can assemble in the hundreds of thousands in Washington, DC and march for gun laws that make sense. But, at the end of the day, we will likely end up with holes in our shoes from the walking and more talking from talking heads that get essentially nothing done.
Sure, there are many pressing issues in our country that are real and important. But if you can’t send your children to school, purchase groceries, attend services at a place of worship, shop at a mall or go to a movie, what kind of life are we living these days?
May the memories of all the gentle souls that were lost be a blessing for their families.