It’s becoming alarmingly common for the daily national news to contain reports of a mass shooting. Over the weekend, there were not one, but two horrifying shootings in our country — one not far away in the coastal town of Southport at a restaurant/bar on the waterfront; the other, at a Mormon church near Flint, Michigan.
Once again, gunfire erupted in a house of worship. And once again, innocent individuals who were out having a good time met their unexpected end. Just another day in the United States of America, apparently.
Does it even faze us at this point? It’s become so common that mass shootings don’t even make the headlines anymore, unless multiple people are killed. Yes, the shootings in Southport and Michigan are showing up in plenty of news feeds. But, there were also the following over the weekend: one woman killed and three injured in a mass shooting in New Orleans; two killed and multiple injuries reported after a mass shooting at a casino in Eagle Pass, Texas; four people shot in a Raleigh parking lot. That’s just the past few days, and just the ones who were found in a quick Google search. There are probably plenty more shootings which have left people injured, traumatized and, to put it mildly, jaded.
Gun violence is so commonplace now that when you’re asked if you heard about the mass shooting, you might respond with “Which one?”
They are all horrific, needless and troubling. Most of the time, the shooter doesn’t even know the people they are murdering. They are just out to prove some sort of point or resolve a perceived vendetta. It seems that since two students killed 13 classmates and one teacher in 1999 at Columbine High School, it’s open season on just about anyone — teachers, schoolchildren, pastors, journalists, vacationers, shoppers, movie-goers, politicians, whomsoever just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s a sad state of affairs that when you go to church or to see a movie, go to a class or a bar, you might want to check for hiding places or exits in case someone pulls out a gun. You never know when you might be shot just because you happen to be having a drink at a bar or teaching a classroom of children. In most cases it’s not even about your political opinion or religious beliefs, though that should not matter in the least, either.
When will enough be enough? When will our lawmakers decide to do something to put a stop to this? Must we live in constant fear, for ourselves and our loved ones?
Of course, we recognize there are no easy answers, since one never knows when or where a shooter will strike. There’s no way this country will ever ban guns altogether, as happened in Australia and the United Kingdom after mass shootings. And those countries have had mass stabbings and bombings, so it’s clear you’ll never get rid of the violence altogether.
But there must be a way to curb the killings somehow. Restrict access to assault weapons? Enforce background checks for weapons? Improve mental health services? There must be some way.
How many people have to die before we take action? We pray for an end to the violence, and we hope in vain that at some point, someone in power will do something to stop these heinous acts from happening.