Don't tell me it isn't about guns...

You knock on the wrong door and someone shoots you. You drive into the wrong driveway and someone shoots you. You go to a sweet sixteen birthday party and someone shoots you. You speak up against the slaughter of three nine year old children and you are exiled and told you have no right to have a voice.

It has been a hard few weeks. I often try to keep things light in my blog simply because so much of what we are going through is anything but light these days. But sometimes I cannot write about Cheerwine and Lance Crackers; sometimes it is just too hard to find the lighter side. Today is one of those days.

I don’t believe it is only about the guns. Yes, mental illness does play a part. A lot of different things play a part. But I am weary of people denying that guns are definitely a part of the problem. A big part.

I stumbled across an article in a publication (new to me) called The Havok Journal. I appreciate what was written:

The reality is, that the gun is the easiest, most lethal, and most effective way to kill a bunch of people in a short period of time. The average, untrained (or minimally trained) person would not be able to do this much damage with a knife or a bat. It could happen with explosives, but that requires a certain level of knowledge and resources. It is also easier to blow yourself up in your garage bomb lab than it is to shoot yourself.

I don’t want to ban guns or repeal the 2nd Amendment. I just want to acknowledge that the gun is a lethal weapon and part of the problem with mass murders in America. It’s a pretty big problem with criminal violence, suicide, and domestic violence also.

Why do so many refuse to even acknowledge that guns are a part of the problem? In my view guns are a major part of the problem simply because they can do so much damage in such a short amount of time and they are so easily available.

As I sit here at my desk writing this post, the television news plays in the background reporting yet another mass shooting. I hear a child’s voice saying, “Someone shot my Daddy.”

Someone shot my daddy. Someone shot my son. Someone shot my daughter. Someone shot…you can fill in the blank. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 11,523 people have died from gun violence in the U.S. in 2023. This is an average of 115 deaths each day.

It is time to stop denying what is so obviously true. Guns are indeed a major part of the problem. Can we not be honest and have a real conversation about the gun violence epidemic that continues to sweep our country? OUR country. Other countries do not have the death tolls from guns that we have in our country.

I wish I could wrap up this blog post with a neat and tidy answer on how we resolve the gun violence that is ravaging our country. I don’t know an easy answer. All I know is that each one of us has to speak up any time we have the opportunity. We have to elect leaders that are willing to tell the truth and to truly listen to the heartbreak caused by gun violence. We have to be willing to take action. Write a letter. Make a phone call. Do it over and over. Silence is not an option.

I highly recommend that you take a look at The Havok Journal. It contains some very well-written and thoughtful articles. Here’s how they describe themselves: “The Havok Journal seeks to serve as the Voice of the Veteran Community through a focus on current affairs and articles of interest to the public in general, and the veteran community in particular.”

Here is the link to the full article from which I quoted: https://havokjournal.com/nation/what-is-the-real-problem-with-gun-violence-in-america/