4 minute read
Warning: Disturbing Content Describing
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT DESCRIBING VIOLENCE
BY JERI BONAVIA
They waited.
Inexplicably, outrageously, inhumanely, they waited. Gunshots and more gunshots ringing out, and they waited. Time passing, panic rising, and they waited. The screaming of terrified children and the guttural, primal wailing of terrified parents, and they waited. Victims bleeding out; still, they waited.
It is the tragic story of an inexcusably delayed response to an active shooter at Robb Elementary. But, read it again. It is also the horrifying story of the indefensibly delayed response to gun violence in America.
We are right to be shocked that law enforcement officers waited minute after minute after minute, in the same way that we should be outraged about the ones who call the shots, the elected officials, who have callously disregarded the screams, the pleas, the wails, the unending trauma of a whole nation month after year after decade.
Just like law enforcement’s too-little-too-late response in Uvalde, Congress finally responded, too. In June, Congress passed The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a modest set of gun reform laws. It’s a beginning. But, given the record-setting levels of gun violence and the ever-increasing numbers of mass shootings, much more is needed.
Yet, Senator Cornyn, who had been heralded for shepherding this legislation, was recently asked if Congress would now be considering stronger, more effective legislation. “No, we’re done,” he responded.
With all of us still in danger, John Cornyn and his colleagues are done; they’re resetting the waiting-clock.
BUT WE CAN’T WAIT
Instead, we—you and I—must commit to action. First and foremost, we must not let lawmakers walk away from their responsibilities. Let’s admit that nearly every politician in one of the major political parties in our country is madly, wildly besotted with the gun lobby. Just watch them. To prove their unadulterated “pro-gunniness,” they’ll create videos of themselves firing guns, big guns; send Christmas cards of their whole family posed with guns; fry bacon with guns; and do mock raids of the homes of their political opponents with guns.
When the gun industry wishes for some new policy to help sell more guns to more people, Republicans, eager to please, will bend and contort and knock each other over, like too many players on a Twister mat. But this isn’t a game, and it’s our civic duty to remind them of that. We must reach out to every one of our elected officials and to every candidate for office and let them know that we expect them to prioritize the safety of people over the profits of the gun industry. If they can’t do what is in the best interest of their constituents and this country, we must vote them out. We will never be the land of the free and the home of the brave if we are the land of the armed and the dangerous.
Photo by Josiah S/Getty Images.
Next, we must stop accepting gun violence as a normal part of everyday life. There is nothing normal about it. No other high-income country in the world tolerates this level of gun violence. Among the 23 high-income countries, more than 80% of all of the firearm deaths occur in the United States. Relatedly, we must acknowledge and believe the scientific evidence, which shows that gun violence is preventable. This is a solvable problem!
Taking steps, like requiring background checks on every gun transfer and giving families the ability to petition a court to remove firearms temporarily from a loved one in crisis, will save lives. Preventing gun violence is what smart people do.
Moreover, we must understand the undeniable relationship between structural racism and gun violence. Dismantling racist
systems and ensuring adequate resources will improve the quality of life in many ways, including making neighborhoods safer. Preventing gun violence in every community is what decent, anti-racist people do.
Finally, we must question our own choices. Overall, just owning a gun puts everyone in the home at higher risk, but those risks are not spread evenly. If you own a gun, do an honest assessment of the risks versus potential benefits. If you or anyone in your home has a history of violence, or severe depression, or alcohol or drug abuse, or if you have children in your home, now may be the right time to remove the guns, if only temporarily. Preventing gun violence at home is what loving people do.
This is how we can prevent gun violence. It’s how we can save thousands of lives and spare families and whole communities from unbearable grief. Unlike the greed-driven, heartless gun industry executives and their marionette politicians, we refuse to ignore the cries and pleas reverberating across an entire country that is throbbing with heartache. All of us, working together, is exactly what is needed; it’s exactly what loving, decent, anti-racist, smart, patriotic people must do right now.
Please, don’t wait.
Jeri Bonavia is Executive Director of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Educational Fund.
