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Sunday, October 15, 2017

For 58 More - What Happened in Vegas Ended in Vegas

A fortnight ago, one man ended 58 lives, injured over 500 others, and altered those of a multitude of family and friends.  Even if you were not directly or indirectly scathed by the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas tragedy, you may still feel numb, shocked, sickened, outraged, and incredulous.  You should.  We all should.  But we should do more than think about it while life goes on in all its myriad forms from the mundane to the profound.  We will walk the dog, prepare the food, and get up and go to work a week later, a month later, a year later.  So too, women will give birth, the clergy will preach, artists will create, and we will raise and dedicate monuments.  But, will we take meaningful action to prevent another such tragedy?  Or, will the hideousness of America’s infatuation with guns continue to accumulate bloody statistics like the compounding scars of Dorian Gray’s decaying portrait that remains hidden from public view?

What catharsis is required to awaken us from our collective stupor and re-establish a sane, rational, and humane society in America?  Will this be the 9/11 equivalent for gun violence in America?  The answer can be yes if we don’t just think about it, wring our hands, shake our heads, and don our bulletproof garments to head out the door – packing heat, just in case.

Instead of accepting that this pattern must inevitably continue, will you engage in a meaningful conversation with your neighbors and elected officials on the topic?  Will you ask questions such as:
·      Can this behavior be stopped?
·      Is it the fault of the gun manufacturers?
·      Is it the fault of the ammunition manufacturers?
·      Is it the fault of the industries that thrive on our fears and vulnerabilities?
·      Is it the fault of the consumers?
·      Should there be a limit on the number of firearms one person can own?
·      Should there be a limit on the number of firearms that can be purchased within a given period of time?
·      How are mental illness records used to control gun purchases?

What questions do you have?  If Americans are going to retain the “right to bear arms” why not be public about it?  Hell, there’s a website to show where the child molesters live in your neighborhood – why not include anyone with an arsenal on that list too?  Of course, law-abiding gun owners are not criminals but isn’t it time we acknowledge that firearms in America pose a unique and recurring threat to every community where they are owned?  If people choose to have guns, then let’s make it public knowledge.  My neighbors know I have a licensed and registered car - what do gun owners have to hide?

The conventional argument suggests that when law-abiding citizens don’t have arms, then only criminals will.  Conversely, when law-abiding citizens have arms, they acquire the potential to become mass murderers.  Some may say there’s no reason to limit the number of guns one owns because only one can be used at a time.  Right, use one and then start using another, just like what happened in Las Vegas where at least 10 weapons were found at the scene. 

Are we doomed as a society to accept that any moment in any public place our lives may be taken by a bullet?   I urge you to read the October 5, 2017 Washington Post update to its original December 2015 listing of mass killings in the United States since 1966 here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mass-shootings-in-america/  Tragically, there have been 131 events when four or more people were murdered by one or more gunmen since 1966.  The toll has now reached 948 victims including 145 children and teenagers.

Any one of us could be next on the list.  Help rid us of the rot of gun violence in America and restore our nation’s portrait to the virtuous ideal to which we aspire as a society.

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