September 4, 2024

I know I try to keep things generally upbeat and positive on this blog, but sometimes you have to follow where the news takes you. And in this case, I’m going to veer away from the election to talk about another very political event.

There’s been another school shooting: As of this writing, there are reports of at least 4 people dead and more injured at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The suspected perpetrator is in custody.

Those are the facts. Here is some opinion, as written by Jason Weisberger on BoingBoing.net:

“The United States does not have to tolerate this […] There is no patriotic duty to allow school children to be slaughtered as the normal course of education. […] We accept the deaths and I am clueless why. I don’t think our gun culture is worth it.”

It isn’t. The only reason this sort of thing keeps happening is because we, as Americans, lack the courage to politicize this. Or, I should say, those of us who disagree with the NRA’s stance on things keep letting them write the very political script for our (lack of) response. And we, as a collective, are then complicit in allowing each further tragedy to become yet another statistic.

And, speaking of statistics, in case you happen to think to yourself, well, there hasn’t been that many mass shootings this year, allow me to respond by saying that there have been at least 432 mass shootings in the United States in 2024, resulting in the deaths of at least 527 people. Sure, “only” three of them have been at schools or universities, but is that the “good news” caveat you want to hold onto here? The vast majority of these fly under the radar and are not widely reported. But every family of one of those killed or injured know what has happened. And we should be made aware as well. LINK