(More Shootings)
In San Jacinto, On October 5, there was a deadly shooting in a Motel, then on October 8 a father and son shooting during a family disturbance and on October 9 a clerk in a smoke shop was gunned down, and only two more weeks before the month is out. How many more gun related tragedies must we endure in October?
Single or multiple shootings have become commonplace in our American society that we no longer feel outrage, instead we placidly go about our business as these events ricochet within our brain before they spill onto the floor, to be swept away and forgotten.
Must we resign ourselves to this phenomenon that seems exclusive of the United States of America? Some will argue that mass killings take place all over the world, yes agreed, but under an entirely different set of circumstances. In war torn countries people die as a result of shooting between opposing factions; in dictatorships, people are shot when they speak out against their oppressors; and in countries where organized crime has taken over, people get shot when they get in the way of battles between gangs and the police. Killing of innocent bystanders in any event is equally reprehensible.
Nowhere but in America however, does an assassin willfully and consciously pick up a gun, of which he probably has an extensive collection to go out and shoot human beings at random. Why do we not really care?
Is it possible that possessing a gun is more important than the lives lost of our sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers? Is our sense of security really enhanced by having in our possession a fire-arm that in many cases for reasons of safety is probably unloaded and under lock and key? Are the marketing and public relations departments of weapons manufacturers, as well as the congressional gun lobby more powerful than the average voting citizen who is unstoppable when united in a common front? Can we organize like the people who are fighting against the seemingly constant increase in the cost of medications?
Something is for sure. For the safety of our children who have no “dog in the fight”, who depend on the grown-ups to protect them from all kinds of danger, we need to come to the realization that reducing the number of guns in this country, is imperative to our survival.
The motives behind the murders expressed in the first paragraph of this article should not be disconnected from the greater issue which is the ease with which a lethal weapon can be acquired in America. Had there been greater legal control over the purchase of firearms, these events would probably not have occurred.
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