I have wept for lives lost from Columbine High School to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and every mass shooting in between. I have wept for the families, friends, and school faculty of those who were killed as they tried to find the words to express what must be indescribable grief. I have wept for all those who survived the horror and especially those who witnessed the horror in schools, colleges, universities, movie theaters, churches, parking lots and a nightclub as they tried to find the words to express what those moments of terror and tragedy were like. I have wept in sadness and in anger and in frustration.
How many more tears will we have to shed before we stop the madness? How many more families will be shattered? How many more will witness a horror that they cannot forget? How many more lives will be taken before we really do something? How many more times will we hear or read the same words from politicians sending their thoughts and prayers? How many more times will we hear or read that this is not the time to talk about gun control? That we should focus on the families of those who were killed? What better way to honor the families and friends of those who died as well as those who survived but must live with the physical and emotional scars of the shootings than by doing something to at least try to stop this from happening over and over?
Make no mistake, those who lost their lives did not do so because this is the price we pay for freedom. They did not willingly give their lives defending freedom. Churches, schools, colleges, universities, movie theaters, outdoor concerts, outdoor meetings between a Congressional Representative and constituents, or a nightclub were not battlegrounds where people were fighting to defend freedoms. The lives lost in these mass shootings were not lost because they were "fighting the good fight" so that all might be free. Their lives were stolen from them. There is no reason for assault-style weapons to be sold. That is not a second amendment issue. That is a common sense issue and banning assault-style weapons will not lead to the erosion of our rights. But it just might save lives.
