My son, Tucker, appeared at the door of the bedroom where I’d snuggled him in for a nap but minutes before. He was three years old, and we were visiting a friend for the day. Clearly unnerved, he said, “There’s a gun in there.”
I scooped him up and entered the room. A rifle was in the corner, leaning against the wall. How had I missed it? The gun was removed, and I lay down with my boy until he drifted off to sleep.
Not long before Tucker was born, one of my students died in a gun accident. He was thirteen, a bright kid, funny, kind, and promising. Having spent two years at a school for children with learning disabilities, he’d been accepted at a competitive, traditional school and was eager to commit to that challenge. Instead, he died. While playing with a gun, a friend of his shot him by mistake.
In the aftermath of that loss, I raised my children to have a gun aversion borne of my own.
In 2012, twenty children and the six adults striving to save them were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a troubled young man with an AR-15. Dave and I live two towns away, and sometimes it’s a struggle to ban from my mind images of the carnage faced by first responders at Sandy Hook. And now, Uvalde. It stills my soul to think of the unfathomable grief of the victims' parents and loved ones. How does one live with such pain? Joe Garcia, husband of murdered Robb Elementary School teacher Irma Garcia, could not. He died of a heart attack the day after the shooting, leaving their four children orphaned. The ripples of tragedy fan wide, anger and sorrow sweeping parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, friends, neighbors… and those of us, far removed, who mourn for them. What will be the toll of this recurring trauma?
Mental health in America is a serious issue, but it is guns that are doing the killing. It is assault weapons that are slaughtering children, shoppers, and church-goers. Those who bellow, “You can take my gun only from my cold, dead hands” seem to think their rights, based on a willful application of an amendment written in the 18th century for militia men and musket owners, supersede those of the swelling ranks of deceased, injured, and bereaved.
They are wrong, but for now, it seems Karma alone will settle these countless scores. Life-saving laws have idled for years as Congressional Republicans, absent conscience or courage, worry more about re-election than murdered children.
Since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, 2000 Americans have been killed or wounded in mass shootings, and that does not include the thousands of individual gun deaths and suicides. As 50 Senators block H.R. 8, the Bi-Partisan Background Checks Act of 2021, the murders continue as Americans approach outings with wariness, and parents, fearfully, send their kids to school.
10 comments:
Perhaps it’s time for you to go to Congress and read this into the record. Your Senator Murphy would celebrate you as we all do, always.
I second that!!
Senator Murphy's speech the day of the shooting was as true and powerful as anything I've heard. "Another term in Congress or the lives of children?" Term limits is the only way to compel those who value their careers over the well being of the people to remember their ideals and the purpose of their presence in Congress. They will certainly resist voting to limit the jobs too many of them have fought so hard to keep....at the expense of democracy and American lives. So, HOW do we make that happen?
The fact that the gun lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel companies are allowed to buy our politicians is a big part of the problem. We have to turn that around- and I’m afraid it will have to be our kids’ generation that will have to do it. We failed. And the disconnect between the anti-abortion and the refusal to protect school children is so bizarre. I tell you- if those Texan children who were just killed had been in an affluent Dallas neighborhood- maybe the reaction would have been even bigger- but the racism in this country is undeniable. I am weary of this world right now. Why are we so reluctant to serve and protect ALL citizens?? If you have a garden and some plants aren’t doing well, and others are thriving- where do you put your energy?? On the plants that need help. Wake up America- embrace both what your citizens have in common as well as our diversity- which is what makes for the possibility of a compassionate, interesting, and hopefully peaceful world.
I'm with you, Lea. So much in the world right now is unfathomable. I feel like those people are a different species. And they have a frightening amount of power. I wish I felt more hopeful. xxx Tricia
Did the power of lobbies - to this degree - start with Citizens v. United? The Supreme Court failed us there too.
I live in a gun crazy region and I hate all of it -- Our esteemed governor recently signed a bill that pretty much made it legal for anyone to have a gun on their hip when they're at Walmart or picking up Chinese food. Big gun control legislation is, at least here, a sure way for democrats to lose elections. And previous wimpy legislation hasn't stopped the carnage. With a minimum investment, people can 3-D print handguns in their homes now without any oversight. The days of us knowing or regulating who has access to guns are almost over.I don't know what my solution is. It would be great to pump billions into mental health checkups or classes for school age children but I can already hear the racket about civil rights violations blah blah blah.
I can't imagine being a parent these days with young children, between pandemics and shootings. The situation is beyond tragic and how frustrating that it's also about money. Many of those GOP who won't budge on common sense laws are in the pockets of the NRA. I want to ask them, how much money do you need? What will be enough to make you a moral person who cares about our country's children? Unfortunately, the sound of their silence in response is deafening.
Yes, money, power, and votes... I wish one could limit blames to a few, to shameless politicians in the pockets of lobbyists, yet, the GOP voters of Georgia decided Marjorie Taylor Greene was still a good bet. I believe the PA Republicans have nominated Dr. Oz. We need conscience, courage, and careful consideration among the general population, not just the power-hungry politicians!
Well said Lea. The NRA has the majority of Republicans in the palm of their hand. It’s disgusting that any organization should have that much power. No average citizen needs an assault rifle and if they suddenly want one, alarms should be raised. Make people wait a few weeks before allowed to purchase it. Maybe whatever torment they are suffering will be resolved. They will no longer feel the need to murder. I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.
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