It happens every Christmas. Yes, Santa Claus comes and leaves gifts. Families get together and celebrate. Some families, of course, do not celebrate Christmas but a different religious or cultural tradition like Hanukkah or Kwanza. But there is no celebration for a family in Florida where a murder/suicide took the lives of 3 in front of 4 innocent children who can’t unsee what they saw:

“It’s safe to say the holidays oftentimes put stressors on families and individuals and how they respond to those situations is, obviously, difficult and taking into account the lives it impacts is tremendous,” he added, according to The Ledger.

It’s also safe to say that easy access to guns and the idea that a gun can “solve a problem” or gets used in a suicide or in anger is a factor. It has to be factored in because you just don’t read about a hanging murder/suicide or rarely if ever about a knifing murder/suicide.

PTSD is real. Kids are exposed to shootings and the after-effects every day. It is not a pretty picture to see dead bodies with gunshot wounds.

It’s the guns. It’s “family fire”. It’s our country’s fascination with guns and the promotion of guns by the corporate gun lobby. It’s our lack of strong gun laws that can not only prevent some people who shouldn’t have guns from getting them but the idea that it’s OK for anyone to have a gun for any purpose.

It’s a total lack of any common sense when it comes to the gun culture, gun laws and how people perceive gun ownership as a right no matter what.

We all have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Did I mention that this shooting was in Florida? I wrote about shootings in Florida in my last post. Florida, the state of the gun lobby on steroids.

Happy holidays.

Please stay safe and put your guns away at least for this week or so. But maybe think about the fact that if you own a gun, you might just use it in despair, anger, or in a suicidal family tragedy. Responsible gun ownership comes with safe storage, not using the gun in anger or during family disputes or disputes with friends. It means not taking your gun with you everywhere you go because it is more likely to be used against you or someone you know or love than it self defense.

And don’t tell me that doesn’t happen.

It happens every single day in America.

Just check out the Gun Violence Archive for the facts.

Facts matter. Lives matter. Research matters. Responsibility matters. Safe storage matters. Laws matter. Common sense matters.