I am a grandparent, concerned that his grandkids might die at the hands of some white supremacist shooter. Please don’t tell me that I am being paranoid. I spend half my time living in Charlottesville, Virginia. I don’t need to be reminded of how much real violence is stalking us here in America.
If the primary raison d’etre of government is the protection of its citizens, our federal government is clearly failing us. Although calling my Colorado senators was an act of futility, I called anyway. Feeling some desperation, I urged them to do something. The cycle of mass murders by young, white men toting assault weapons is becoming more frequent. Others have been describing this phenomenon: the shootings, the public’s response and the fact that Congress does nothing to attempt legislation that would require background checks and remove automatic assault weapons from our streets. After a period of Congressional inaction, the public calms down until the next outrageous massacre occurs.
Clearly, no one knows how to get our elected officials to act. High school children have a better handle on this situation than politicians. There ought to be an ultimatum to the Senate: either act or retire.
The lethality of weapons like the AK-47 and AR-15 ought to be limited strictly to battlefields, as if that weren’t horrible enough to contemplate. That we now are reliving the horror ought to spur everyone to yell, “Do something!” Let’s not be so gullible as to falsely pin this terribleness on the mentally ill.
You want to know that our school kids have some chance of surviving their educations? Write, call and otherwise communicate with our elected officials. These may continue to be futile, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll find some courage and do something.