Lord Help Us
Hi there, friend. How are you? How are you doing? Things have been stressful of late. While many act like it's over, we’re still in a global pandemic. Many people have gotten a vaccination, and follow up “booster” doses; still, Covid cases are on the rise again. My state has had 7,000 cases per day. It’s concerning to see numbers rise into the thousands.
Here in the U.S. it’s Pride month-a time for those of us in the LGBTQIA+ family to celebrate all the things that make us unique and original. It’s also a time to remind our allies to fight our rights as if their own rights were at risk; there are currently 30 states that are creating, or have created, anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation.
I’m glad that it’s Pride month. While I’m not tied to my local queer community, I’m connected to the global community. It feels wonderful to celebrate the wonderful and magical beings that we truly are. In truth, it feels wonderful to celebrate something-anything.
It’s
not a happy time in the U.S. to be sure. In addition to the anti-LGBTQIA+
legislation happing, there’s little cause to celebrate. The war in Ukraine
continues, currently in its third month. The Supreme Court is considering
overturning Roe vs Wade, the law that makes it legal for a woman to make her
own reproductive choices, including whether or not to have an abortion. We also
have an urgent, pressing matter, another public health crisis: gun violence.
*
There have been more shootings in the United States than there have been days in the year. On May 15 there was a shooting in in a Buffalo supermarket in which the shooter, a white supremacist, drove hundreds of miles, to a black neighborhood, and opened fire on everyone in the supermarket. 10 people were murdered.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/14/nyregion/buffalo-shooting
Then
on May 24, there was a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 17
children were murdered. The kids were in the second, third, and fourth grades-
between 9 and 11 years of age. Two teachers were also murdered.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uvalde-school-shooting-victims/
Upon
hearing of the massacre in Uvalde, I immediately thought of the massacre at Sandy
Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. The gunman murdered 20
children and 6 adults. In that shooting, the children were 6 and 7 years of
age.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/13/newtown-sandy-hook-shooting-victims-five-years-later
The news coverage from the shooting in Uvalde was too much for me to listen to. Every fiber of my being was on edge; I had a phrase that reverberated through my brain: “Not again. Not again.”
In the days after the massacre, reporters shared news of the deplorable act, while the rest of the country watched in horror. I couldn't listen to details of the attack, or hear about the victims. My system couldn’t take it. I couldn’t stomach it.
*
I’ve
been a writer for twelve years now. I have covered many topics, including gun
control and gun violence. I wrote about the Sandy Hook shooting after it
happened:
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2012/12/enough-is-enough.html
I
wrote about the Pulse massacre:
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2016/06/pulse.html
I
also wrote about when a reporter and cameraman were murdered on live
television:
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2015/08/to-serve-and-protect.html
I’ve
written about gun violence and gun control numerous times. It’s perhaps my most
prolific topic:
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-nightmare.html
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2018/02/dialogue.html
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2015/09/coexist.html
https://letrasalaluna.blogspot.com/2015/12/look-to-light.html
*
Last week, the House (in the U.S. Congress) passed the “Protect Our Kids” act, which would raise the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 years of age (currently 18 years of age.) This is the first of many things that needs to happen to finally bring about change.
The
U.S. Senate is about to vote on its own bill on gun violence. It’s not a done
deal; however, any movement on this topic is long past due.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/12/us/politics/senator-gun-safety-deal.html
*
In
thinking about all the gun violence in America, it made me think about the
Columbine school shooting, which happened in 1999. I wondered if this was the
first school shooting in the United States.
https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/columbine-high-school-shootings
However,
I then remembered the story of the tower shooting at the University of Texas in
1966. In that attack, the gunman went to the top of the bell tower and shot
anyone that passed by.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Texas-Tower-shooting-of-1966
After doing a bit of research, I found the first school shooting, with student casualties, was in 1891….
“The
first known mass shooting in the U.S. where students were shot, was April 9,
1891, when 70 year old, James Foster fired a gun at a group of students in the
playground of St. Mary’s Parochial School, Newburgh, New York, causing minor
injuries to several of the students. The majority of attacks during this time
period by students or teacher, usually involved stabbing with knives, or
hitting with stones.”
https://www.k12academics.com/school-shootings/history-school-shootings-united-states
*
Modern
shootings, in schools and countless public places, were greatly impacted by the
lifting of the assault weapons ban, which happened in 1994. Lifting this ban
enabled any American to purchase any assault weapon they choose. The weapon
used most often in mass shootings: the AR-15. The gunman in the Uvalde massacre
purchased two AR-15s when he turned eighteen.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ar-15-mass-shootings-60-minutes-2022-05-29/
*
I am reminded of a documentary I watched years ago, “Under the Gun.” The
documentary is fascinating and inciting at the same time. The movie looks at the history of gun
violence in the U.S., and the laws passed throughout the years. The film also
looks at the NRA, the National Rifle Association, and their stranglehold on
politicians and lawmakers. Every American should see this movie. The
documentary is streaming now on Epix. New subscribers can sign up for Epix for
a preview for a week, completely free.
https://www.epixnow.com/offer/epixnow
After the Uvalde school massacre, social media was full of posts of collective shock, horror, and righteous anger of the murder of innocent children in school. And rightfully so.
To my recollection, there isn’t a public entity that hasn’t had a shooting-churches, temples, mosques, synagogues, and more have all had shootings. Schools, movie theaters, even outside concerts have had shootings. Restaurants, cafeterias, and public libraries have had shootings.
Of
course, there is one more location of gun violence that needs to be mentioned:
the workplace. Many shootings have been in the workplace, where the general
public would not be. In many cases, the
gunman is a former employee. Take for example the shooting at the Fed Ex
fulfillment center in Indianapolis in 2021:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/multiple-people-shot-indianapolis-fedex-facility-police/story?id=77109792
There
are several traits in common with people that carry out these massacres. One
glaring aspect jumps out in my mind-most of the shooters in this country are
males. Toxic masculinity is literally killing people in this country.
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/27/981803154/why-nearly-all-mass-shooters-are-men
*
I’ve written about gun violence, and gun control, before. I’ve shared my views on the matter, my shock and horror, and my righteous anger at the continued gun violence in this country. However, with the Uvalde massacre, I found myself at a loss for words. What could I say now that I already haven’t conveyed in my writing?
I
paused for a moment. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and searched my
heart and spirit for words to express what I was thinking and feeling in that
moment. Here is what came to me:
I am an American.
I am a single woman.
I have no children.
I don’t own a gun.
Still, I value
the life of your children
more than my
constitutional right
to own a gun.
*
In
the days and weeks since the Uvalde massacre, I have learned more information
about the shooting. For example, law enforcement was in the school for over an
hour before they confronted the shooter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/us/uvalde-shooting-police-response.html
One
eleven-year-old girl smeared herself in blood, to avoid being shot by the
gunman.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/us/robb-shooting-survivor-miah-cerrillo/index.html
Dr.
Roy Guerro, a pediatrician, spoke of the injuries to the children in the Uvalde
massacre:
“Two
children whose bodies had been pulverized by bullets fired at them,
decapitated. Whose flesh had been ripped apart. That the only clue of their
identities was their blood-splattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them,
clinging for life and finding none.”
I
also learned the leading cause of death for youth in the United States: gun violence.
*
Gun violence in this country is not like a cancer, or the coronavirus, a disease that merits vaccinations and inoculations. It is domestic terrorism, a completely preventable public health crisis. This need not be.
I
have hope that the bills in the U.S. House and Senate will pass. It is time for
change. It is long past due. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died
needlessly due to gun violence. This should have changed decades ago. We have
the chance to act, now, before any lives are lost. And Lord help us if
we don’t.
https://www.healthdata.org/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier
“Over the last two decades, more school-age children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military combined….How much more carnage are we willing to accept?”-President Biden
“It’s
a difficult reality to be healthy in a sick society. Living in a culture of
death is an extraordinary act.”-Baratunde Thurston
Hymn
for the Hurting-Amanda Gorman
Everything
hurts,
Our
hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds
made muddied and mute.
We
carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And
yet none of it is new;
We
knew it as home,
As
horror,
As
heritage.
Even
our children
Cannot
be children,
Cannot
be.
Everything
hurts.
It’s
a hard time to be alive,
And
even harder to stay that way.
We’re
burdened to live out these days,
While
at the same time, blessed to
outlive
them.
This
alarm is how we know
We
must be altered-
That
we must differ or die,
That
we must triumph or try.
Thus
while hate cannot be terminated,
It
can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
Resources:
-Wear
Orange: https://wearorange.org/
-Everytown:
https://www.everytown.org/
-March
For our Lives: https://marchforourlives.com/
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