Nineteen elementary school children and two teachers were shot to their deaths in Uvalde, Texas. The newscaster made the grim announcement, noting it “the deadliest school shooting since Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 2017” and “the most recent mass shooting since last week in Buffalo, when 10 African-American adults – largely elderly – were killed by a troubled 18-year-old male in a Tops grocery store.
Now in Texas, 21 beautiful souls were brutally murdered. Snatched away from their loved ones, from their communities, and saddest of all, from their futures. The murderer, another 18-year-old male, also lost his life. He, too, had loved ones who are left questioning when and where things went off the rails. Then again, perhaps he was already gone. Perhaps it was the shell of his former self who shot his own grandmother yesterday, then crashed his black Ford pickup into a ditch near Robb Elementary School, and then entered the school wearing full body armor, a backpack, and several high-powered weapons including a semi-automatic rifle.
In times like these, it’s natural for our minds to search for something concrete to help make sense of the nonsensical, to give form to the shapeless chaos. My mind goes to a cross section of a large old oak tree, its rings tightly spaced and rippling outward. If I zero in on the innermost circle, back when the tree was just a sapling, I imagine the victims and the shooter landing inside that central circle when the shots were fired. The next ring holds their classmates, school staff, administrators, and first responders, all whom survived but barely.
One ring out holds the immediate families of the victims and the survivors – sisters, brothers and parents – all in a state of shock, the first step in a long process of grief. The next ring holds the hospital doctors, nurses and staff, scurrying to treat broken skin and broken hearts. The next circle holds the extended families – the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. The next ring circles their streets and neighborhoods. The next ring outward surrounds the regional law enforcement who, in the coming days, will begin strategizing on needed updates to security protocols and reevaluating how young is too young to begin active shooter school drills.
There are even rings that hold space for those not yet involved – the future friends, significant others, spouses, and coworkers of the survivors who will come into focus further down the road. They will be the ones who weren’t there when “it” happened but who will become firsthand witnesses to the lingering effects of this long-ago trauma. They will watch it unfold, unable to comprehend yet desperate to understand. Onward and outward the rings of the tree go, even holding space for those who heard the news from afar – those like me who gave thanks it wasn’t their town, their school, or their kids.
So… will “things change” this time – laws, votes, consciences? Will it be this go round when Americans unite in agreement that enough is finally enough? Likely not. It’s much more likely that today’s victims will soon fade into the noise of political positioning, bumped down on the growing list of casualties in the name of the almighty campaign dollar. That is, unless “the American people” change. I’m not talking about the faceless group of folks sprinkled into political talking points. I’m talking about the American people who respect the rule of law, recognize our shared humanity, and remember everything that is at stake if we become complacent. America should never be – and must never be – taken for granted. Democracy – and all of its civil liberties and freedoms that the rest of the world envies and looks to for leadership – our democracy is fragile and in desperate need of repair. Yet, it will only recover and be able to stand the test of time if Americans – US – work together to hold our elected officials accountable when they disavow their civic duty: to serve as the voice for the people.
Thoughts and prayers can be powerful, but if they are not undertaken with a sincere desire for discernment and a willingness to do the work that must be done to help protect and prevent future deaths, then, honestly, what good are they? If marches and protests and statements and press briefings and interviews and draft legislation are worth their salt, change will follow. Change MUST follow.
So how do we make change? First, we must stop waiting for others to make it happen. We must quit wringing our hands like we are helpless and powerless. Those in public office serve at the pleasure of the public – that’s you and that’s me. We must disrupt the power pipeline of campaign financing and hold our elected officials accountable to their constituency. How? By ensuring our representatives are actually representing us and doing the work we hired them to do. And if they aren’t, we must call their offices, send them emails, and use our voices. And if they still refuse, we must vote them out the first opportunity we get and elect those who will. Before we cast our ballots – at any level – we need to know to whom or what causes this person will be accountable to if elected. In other words, the money trail. What special interests will they be beholden to prioritizing over the health and safety of their representatives – meaning you and your family? There is just way too much at stake.
We can also cease enabling those who rely on catchphrases as crutches. For example the ol’ “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” mantra. The thing is, most Americans are in favor of responsible gun ownership and will be the first to say that, yes, guns can be deadly, particularly ones that are designed for combat and mass casualties of war. There is ZERO justifiable reason that any civilian should be able to purchase militaristic weaponry. How about this one? “They’re trying to take away my guns!” If you bought your guns legally via a licensed dealer and following a clean (and truthful) background check and not taking advantage of unlawful loopholes, then there is no need to worry. No more fear mongering about slippery slopes. It’s intellectually and morally dishonest. Another go-to for some folks is “We can’t stop bad people from doing bad things”. As brilliant journalist and Tangle writer Isaac Saul stated: “‘We can’t stop bad people from doing bad things’ is an argument you could make for not having any laws at all. Why have laws to regulate murder or robbery or rape if there’s simply nothing we can do to stop bad people from doing bad things?” A-freaking-men.
In short, enough. We must demand our elected officials to do the work of protecting and preserving the rule of law. We must make change. Our democracy and our very lives depend on it.
==========
“If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.” – Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and Third U.S. President
“So many hearts around the world breaking. If I only got one chance, I’ll take it. Let my voice be the trumpet that can say that someone gotta be the hope, someone gotta be the love.”
– Britt Nicole, Christian musician
“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” – George Frederick Root, composer
==========
For a comprehensive list of ways you and your community can help prevent gun violence, visit PreventionInstitute.org
swimming toward the shark 