When Greed for Power Outweighs Our Children's Lives

 

The news these past few weeks has been horrifying. However, the inaction of our leaders is even more disturbing. To use a time-honored phrase heard in my childhood neighborhood, "What the F....!"

Mass shootings have been a horrific part of the history of the United States as far back as the 1920's. In the last ten years, they have escalated to an unthinkable tally. 

 

In a twelve-year study done by Everytown Research, the statistics are staggering. "Between 2009 and 2020, 1,363 people in the United States were killed and 947 more were wounded in 240 mass shootings, an average of 20 shootings each year. Among the casualties were at least 362 children and teens killed as well as 21 law enforcement officers killed and 35 wounded. These numbers are staggering, yet they represent just a small portion of the lives forever changed after a mass shooting shakes a community with terror and grief."

 

What makes me sick about this is the partisan rhetoric being thrown around about "rights." As a teacher, I can unequivocally state that rights come with responsibilities. We all have a responsibility to make sure that our rights don't hurt others. 

 

In addition, while one side of the congressional aisle is busy blaming the other, I wonder if anyone has noticed that political preference was not considered - victims came from both the Democrats and the Republicans.  Children never had the opportunity to become either, yet they were massacred without forethought.

The time has come to STOP blaming and start creating laws that will save lives. No one needs an automatic weapon or assault weapon to hunt. These guns should only be in the hands of enlisted military and police.  We should treat guns with as much caution as we treat the "right" to drive. 

 

Finally, we MUST destigmatize mental illness. Trauma begets trauma when it is not faced and healed.  Healing cannot happen if we make people ashamed that they were traumatized. Mental illness is a disease like cancer. Mental illness can be treated. People with cancer are not punished for having chemotherapy, why should mental health patients be abused and punished for seeking help?

I encourage all who read this to find out the facts. Visit SandyHookPromise.org.  Learn what you can do. Read the facts at EverytownResearch&Policy.  Then, demand from your legislators that they work to make changes, or they lose you vote. 

 

Our children deserve better than what we are giving them. Stop gun violence, now!