The reality of America’s entrenched and pathological love, adoration and fetish for guns was recently highlighted by yet one more local gun tragedy. This particular tragedy involved two brothers embroiled in a heated argument that turned violent. Of course one brother was exercising his love of freedom and was armed. He shot and killed his brother in a frenzied panic, he jumped into his car and drove off recklessly at a high rate of a speed. In his escalated state of panic he hit another car head on killing two passengers. A reasonable question one reviewing this horror story might ask is what would the outcome have been if this brother-turned-murderer had not had a gun readily available?
Of course, this is just one more tragedy in America’s endless and on-going gun slaughter. Keep in mind that 61 people commit suicide by gun daily. Ten children are shot to death. Approximately 342 people are shot daily in the United States. And our current firearm genocide is almost with certainty going to be eclipsed annually given the current national surge in gun and ammunition sales. The exponentially growing threat from domestic terrorism organizations is by itself a sentinel concern. It is a damning indictment of the American character that we are lulled into almost comatose complacency by the daily gun carnage that has both redefined the United States and showcased a dark and unsettling facet of the American character.
Reasoned, sane and civilized Americans need to collectively work together and advocate for common sense gun control. We see on a daily basis the end results of a nation turned into a virtual shooting gallery. We can build a better future where endless mass shootings and such are not the norm. Now is the time.
Jim Sawyer
Edmonds
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