In light of the mass shooting in Texas, I wanted to educate myself on the matter. I am disappointed in the security system in place to protect us. It was released on Monday that the shooter in Texas was able to acquire a gun legally because the Air Force had neglected to submit Devin P. Kelley’s conviction of domestic violence against his ex-wife and toddler son.
In my chemistry class we account for human error in all of our lab experiments. It is required to consider human error and reflect on how it affected the data. Seeing human error in real time, part of the cause of 26 deaths, leaves me speechless.
This morning I read an especially poignant article in the New York Times, “Only One Thing Explains Mass Shooting in the United States.” Max Fisher and Josh Keller highlight that the US has 270 million guns and has had 90 mass shooters from 1966 to 2012, when no other country has more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters. An especially disheartening graph (50 mass shooters per 100 million people vs. 120 guns per 100 people) in the article reveals the United States and Yemen as outliers compared to other countries.
The article leaves the reader with an especially chilling idea. “‘In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate,’ Dan Hodges, a British journalist, wrote in a post on Twitter two years ago…’Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.’”
I find myself conflicted whenever there is a tragedy like this. How does being informed of the details of this incident progress the issue of gun violence when it seems like the majority of the country values the right to bear arms more highly than human life? What can I do to help knowing this information?
I am thankful to be a part of a community on campus that honors the lives lost in this tragedy. Throughout my week’s work at the Chapel, I have heard discussion of the tragedy and talk of having a vigil. It saddens me that in other aspects of my life this issue hasn’t been brought up, unfortunately, probably because the idea of mass shootings has become normalized in our country.
Since, I do not know what else to do, I send prayers to the families of the victims.