Let’s Pretend Gun Violence Is Ebola

>>What must it be like to give life to an individual only to have them killed in a senseless act of violence? I’ve been thinking of that a lot lately as we remember the second anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings. I cannot imagine, and pray that I never have to live the horror so many parents face in our country.

Even though two years have passed, Sandy Hook haunts me more than other school shootings. How sad is it that I have to say that? I think it’s because the children were so young. There were so many killed or injured, and my daughter was on the verge of starting kindergarten herself at the time.

Occasionally I drop her off, and let myself think for a unbearable second – what if this is the last good bye? What if a “Sandy Hook” happened here today? It’s a pretty cruel mind game – and if I let the thought stick around for more than that second, I’d lock my kids up and never let them out of the house. That’s no way to live, but THIS is no way to live now.

According to a >>study released this month there have been almost 100 school shooting incidents in the country in the two years since the Newtown massacre. Six have happened in North Carolina. Remember right after Sandy Hook – everyone said “never again,” “not one more,” “gun laws must change”? And yet – here we are, right where we were then. Shame on us. Shame on our politicians. Shame on the gun lobby. What will it take to really do something?

Forty-five people have died in school shootings since Newtown – dozens more than ebola in this country. Think about that. We have an ebola outbreak, politicians rush to action, the media jumps on the bandwagon, and poof, no more Ebola (at least for now) in the U.S. Why can’t we take the same uniform and necessary action against gun violence? I’m sick of it, and I’m angry.

Keep your damn hunting guns. Form your militia if events make it necessary >>(that’s what the Second Amendment was all about by the way>>). But semi-automatics have no business on the streets. Guns should not be readily accessible to children. I have a very close friend who lives in a part of the country where guns in homes are quite common and she has to ask families if their guns are locked up before allowing her kids to have a play date. This should be a given.

Enough! It’s time to  make a change. Let’s pretend this is ebola and stop it. I want my girls and their classmates to grow up and live the life they’re intended to. They’re both too young to understand what’s happened at Newtown and other communities, but what would they say if they knew we as a society weren’t protecting them to the best of our ability? Why are their rights any less than those who want to have easy access to guns?