The Reality of Gun Violence

Is it my imagination, or is the news cycle getting shorter?  It used to be that a mass shooting, like the one in Washington last week, would lead to many days of coverage.  It would be at the top of the hour every hour.  It would be page one every day.  We would be given every detail, every little bit of information.  But somehow the shooting spree at the Washington Navy Yard which resulted in thirteen deaths (twelve victims and the shooter) has already begun to slip out of our consciousness.

I want to say it is because the attack on the mall in Kenya has taken it's place. And that, indeed, may be a part of it.  But what I really suspect is that we have dealt with so many of these gun violence events here at home that we are becoming hardened to them.  In the interest of our own mental well being, perhaps, we have decided to readjust our expectations of life in 21st century America.  Yes, it's awful, many folks may be thinking, but, hey, such is life!  Things happen. 

In his address at the Memorial Service for the victims, President Obama expressed similar concerns.  "Sometimes," he said, "I fear there's a creeping resignation that these tragedies are somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal."  Frankly, that's very frightening.  While I have great issue with many of the stands taken by various gun rights advocates, and am concerned about how their positions impact things like legislation and culture in the United States, I am far more concerned about complacency!  If we begin to accept the violence that shattered the lives of so many in Aurora and Newtown and Washington as normal, or worse yet as inevitable, then we will be paralyzed when it comes to any effort to make a change.  Whether you think we need to address the problem through stricter gun control measures, or better enforcement of existing measures, or beefing up our mental health system, or even posting armed guards everywhere, nothing will happen until we own up to the problem in the first place.

Yes, the news comes and goes.  Yes, we will probably talk about the Washington shootings for a bit longer, but then we will forget.  The families of the victims, their co-workers, their friends, they won't forget.  And neither should we.

America the Beautiful does not have to be America the Violent.  But ignoring a problem, pretending it's just part of the routine, won't make it go away.  Never has--never will.