When will we finally say, “Enough is enough?”
Two young professionals shot down on live TV in Roanoke, VA, just doing their jobs. Nine worshipers murdered while praying in their church in Charleston, SC. Twenty children and six adults gunned down in their elementary school in Newtown, CT. Children and adults shot and wounded, shot and killed — accidentally, purposely, randomly — every single day in a country where guns are apparently available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
When will we finally say, “Enough is enough?”
Three very public assassinations in the 1960’s had this effect on me (and perhaps many of my generation): they created the fear that someday, someone with a gun and a grievance would shoot ME dead while I’m doing my job, or minding my own business, or caught in some random crossfire. Is there a parent out there today who doesn’t fear some random act of violence by a deranged, or simply angry person with a gun perpetrated on themselves? On their children? Do you watch the news? Do you read the papers? Do you see what’s happening here?
When will we finally say, “Enough is enough?”
Surely we can make things better, can’t we? Apparently, we can’t. Not anymore. Stricter gun laws? Nope. Background checks that 90% of Americans support? Not a chance. How about better enforcement of existing gun laws? Even that’s too much to expect anymore.
Opponents of gun legislation say, “It’s not guns that kill people; people kill people.” That sounds lame, and it is — to a point. The fact is, there is a lot of anger going around, and it has been building in this country for a long time. You see it everywhere in people’s behavior, hear it in their speech, and even feel it in some music. Angry and hateful voices on cable TV, talk radio, social media — words filled with ugliness and malice — spill over into daily, public discourse between coworkers, classmates, neighbors, and strangers. It’s not helpful to anyone and hurts all of us. This cannot be denied.
How we treat people with mental illness must be addressed as well. We acknowledge this need, but our execution is very poor. Addressing mental illness properly will be expensive but it’s time to put our money where our hearts should be. It’s not an either-or situation. There are too many guns in the hands of angry, hateful, violent, and, all too often, mentally ill, people. And the United States leads the pack among all developed nations on this issue — by a mile.
When will we finally forgive each other, and each other’s imperfections? When will we finally project kindness, rather than anger, prejudice, and hatred when we share our thoughts, our words, our tweets, our dreams and aspirations?
For the sake of adults who can make a positive difference, and for the sake of our children, who cannot yet:
When will we finally say, “Enough is enough?”