Here we go again.... as another school year is about to end there's another mass shooting of children finishing the semester. This time in Ulvalde, Texas at Robb Elementary. Fourteen kids and one teacher will not return home for dinner tonight or be planning for their summer vacations.
Within minutes politicians from across the country began offering their "thoughts and prayers." I'm sure that will be comforting to the families of this tragedy. These are the same leaders that say "they value the life of unborn" and have begun passing laws to outlaw abortion and to protect the unborn even as Roe v Wade is before the Supreme Court. I ask.... what about those children and what are you doing for them after they are born?" It appears nothing!
I have written about these mass shootings before and while the situations and locations are different the outcome remains the same.... nothing is done and in days we will push this to a back burner with no change. My fear is that someday the Breaking News will come from somewhere in Iowa. How will we react them?
We need to elect leaders that are willing to makes policy changes regarding guns and who has them. We need leaders that aren't paid by the NRA or hide behind some antiquated definition of the Second Amendment.
My frustration grows with each incident and I feel like I'm just repeating myself. I've written on these tragedies before and share those posts from last year and eight years ago below. Sadly, nothing has changed since I wrote my original blog.
A song by Will Hoge sums up my feelings.... https://youtu.be/jNBJSzZYHAg
March 24, 2021
This Is Not The Time To Discuss This….
If not now, when? It seems after every shooting we hear our leaders saying “this is not the time to talk about this incident” or “we send our thoughts and prayer.” And what does this do for the families that just suffered a lose of a loved one or cherished friend? In the past week shootings have taken place in Atlanta, GA and Boulder, CO. No rhyme or reason for these horrible events but 15 people are dead. Officials question the acts but offer no solution. They hide behind their political beliefs regarding the Second Amendment. But what about those that lost their right to “live?” The media seems to cover every angle of these shootings but one. Expose every politician that is against gun control - show the voters their involvement with the NRA and the amount of money they take from all those political action groups that pay them to vote against gun control. Show us how much Ted Cruz (TX), John Kennedy (LA), Mitch McConnell (KY) and Joni Ernst (IA) were paid to vote “NO” on any gun control. In fact take a minute to research all of Iowa’s politicians that think it’s a good idea to do away with background checks on private arms purchases and no permits to carry. Most of us have been lucky to not lose someone to gun violence but that’s not a guarantee it can’t/won’t happen. No one could have thought about being part of an active shooter event going to the grocery store on a Monday afternoon. Now is the time to do something to protect all citizens from gun violence. This can be done without violating Second Amendment rights. Smart people can find a solution if only they’d think of the good for all and not for those that pay for their vote. (written in 2014) When Is Enough - Enough?
The banter has returned. “Guns don't kill people, people do." “The Constitution guarantees the right the bear arms.” And on it goes, much the same as we heard after Columbine or Virginia Tech or Aurora, Colorado. The same impassioned arguments offered up after Fort Hood, or a parking lot in Phoenix, a school in Sandy Hook and now a Navy facility in our nation's Capitol. Why?
When is enough - enough? Your family member goes to work on Monday morning and before the morning break they're gone. Their life taken by a man exercising his Second Amendment rights. Lives taken by a person they didn’t know or they'd never met. Why?
These tragedies fill the 24 hours news cycles with details of the situation. The gathering of information and the facts of the day. We hear about the life of the killer, the neighbors who seem to never see this coming or the inevitable "he seemed like such a caring person." Why?
But what about the victims? What about the mourning family and friends who just lost a mother, father, husband, wife or friend? What recourse do they have? Who makes their life whole again? It leaves you with the question - Why?
On one of the news segments a husband of 40 plus years was asked "how do you go on?" The gentleman responded "I don't know this is new to me.' I just know we had a lot of plans to live out our lives together and now it's gone." How do you hit reset? How do you answer his questions? Why?
I think I remember a time in my life when the politicians would have found ways to find a solution to these tragedies, a way to protect our Constitutional rights while protecting the lives of its citizens. It seems drawing a line in the sand and basically flipping off the opposition is the way our leaders handle these situations. Why?
It would be nice if our leaders committed themselves to finding a solution so in a few months I won't be writing about the senseless death of someone's husband or wife, brother or sister, son or daughter. My best guess nothing will change and I'll be doing this again. Why?
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