What can I say to you who have just suffered such a tragic loss? I can say "my thoughts are with you." Or I can add my voice to the those who have sent their "thoughts and prayers." I could join with those who are saying "enough is enough." So what? What good will that do? "Thoughts and prayers" after Columbine did not prevent the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, an outdoor concert venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, a movie theater in Colorado, Virginia Tech University, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mother Emmanuel AME Church, Umpqua Community College, a movie theater in Louisiana, or a parking lot where United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords met with her constituents.
So here we are, once again, mourning a tragic shooting. Once again, we are told that now is not the time to talk about enacting reasonable gun control laws. Once again, we hear that the problem is not too many guns, but not enough guns. "If only there had been armed security guards . . . " "If only some of the people inside had guns . . ." Why is the response that we need to turn public and private places into armed fortresses? Why is it that we are told we must return to the "wild, wild, West" mentality of everyone carrying a gun and engaging in shootouts? How is encouraging us to go backwards instead of forward either helpful or reasonable? How does that resolve the problem? How does that help all who have lost loved ones?
How many times will we hear the the words "the deadliest mass shooting . . ." before we decide that we can respect and honor the Second Amendment right to bear arms and still create reasonable gun control laws? When will we stop adding to the pain of all who have been touched by such tragedies because once again we failed to act and they relive their own pain while others experience such indescribable pain for the first time? When will we finally honor those who have died and not continue to let their deaths be in vain?
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