Kentucky school shooting

The true cost of shootings

commongunsense, , , , , , ,

sunriseI want to follow up my previous post with a commentary on the true cost of shootings. As we now know, 2 Kentucky high school students were killed and 18 injured by a 15 year old with a gun on Wednesday. Let me say that again- 2 killed and 18 injured by one 15 year old with a gun.

No words.

There is no logical or reasonable explanation for what happened that day. Nor is there ever an explanation that makes any common sense for why a young person with access to a gun they should not been able to access takes it to a school and shoots peers. Surely they are not thinking about the consequences of their actions. They are in the moment of whatever was in their heads to cause them to massacre other innocent human beings.

The true cost of this culture that exists almost exclusively in America, is, of course, death and devastation that affects families and friends for the remainder of their lives. The true cost is the phone calls that change lives forever.

A Kentucky mother got a phone call from her dying daughter during Wednesday’s massacre- a call no parent should have to remember:

“She called me and all I could hear was voices, chaos in the background,” Bailey’s mother, Secret Holt, told ABC affiliate WKRN on Wednesday. “She couldn’t say anything and I tried to call her name over and over and over and she never responded.”

A daughter whose last act was to try to talk to her parents. One cannot imagine what that would be like for the young girl whose life was violently snuffed out senselessly and avoidably.

A father spotted his son’s socks in an ambulance and knew what that meant:

Brian Cope knew it was bad when he spotted Preston’s socks in an ambulance as he and his wife, Teresa, reached the chaotic scene at the school, he told the Courier-Journal.
They arrived not long before Preston, sprawled on a stretcher with a head wound, was pronounced dead en route to a Nashville hospital, the newspaper said.
“Just senseless. it was just senseless,” Brian Cope told the Courier-Journal.

Senseless. How many times have we said that and I have written that?

Too many.

For one family, the phone call will forever be a nightmare. It is only one part of the cost of shootings and gun violence in America that far too many families experience every day. My family has experienced the phone call- a phone call I will never forget. I will never forget the voice of my sister’s son telling me to sit down while he delivered the news of my sister’s death in a domestic shooting.

For the other, hearing about a school shooting via media ( not sure how) or some kind of message that they should not have had to hear wondering if their own son was a victim.

Those killed will never experience another sunrise or a sunset. Families and friends will grieve and try to deal in the best way they know how with the devastating loss of their son, daughter, sister, mother, brother, aunt, friend, husband, wife….. In time, they will be able to enjoy the simple things in life like enjoying a sunrise, eating out, traveling, family events, holidays, etc. It will be very difficult and nothing will be the same. The tears will flow unexpectedly in a moment of a fleeting memory or something to remind one of their lost loved one. A scene, a look in someone’s eyes, a person who looks eerily like the loved one, going to a place loved by the victim, a toast to the person killed at a family event, etc.

The true cost of gun violence and shootings is unimaginable. There are economic costs. There are emotional costs. There are court costs, health care costs, law enforcement costs, even the cost of cleaning up a horrific crime scene. Sandy Hook Elementary school was torn down after that massacre. Emergency responders suffer from PTSD after some of these deadly and bloody mass shooting.  Too many memories.

The one article about the economic costs asks if America can afford the cost of gun violence? The answer is a resounding NO.

This is what gets lost in the ludicrous debate over gun rights. Those on the side of never agreeing to common sense laws that could save lives don’t get this reality. For them, it appears to be the cost of “freedom”. They are free to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. They have no memories of a loved one whose life was violently and suddenly taken by someone with a gun in his/her hand loaded with bullets intended for innocent people whose only fault was being in the right place at the right time going to school, work, or wherever shootings occur suddenly.

It is not inevitable or normal for so many parents to lose children so violently in senseless and avoidable school shootings.

That is why I have been and will continue to work to make sure Americans get to see the sunrises and sunsets and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We are better than this.

3 school shootings in 2 days? Speak out.

commongunsense, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Speak Out Indicates Be Heard And AnnouncementYes, it’s true. There have been 3 school shootings in the last 2 days that have gone largely ignored. Why? Good question. What’s the answer? Preventing them in the first place. Most school shooters, if children or teens, get their guns from home. Others are due to adults who have an issue with anger, vengeance or whatever else can be explained as to reasons why people take their guns out in public and decide to shoot innocent people.

Of course this wouldn’t be happening if there were fewer guns around in our country and less access to the ones we have. But this is America where guns flow freely and children and adults die or are wounded in large numbers every day.

This is not normal or inevitable. It is, however, preventable.

It’s actually past time to speak out about gun violence and how to prevent it but it’s never too late to save lives. Gun violence is a public health epidemic that is ignored. People are dying and shootings continue apace.

Today in Kentucky, a shooter shot kids at a school. This CNN article tells us the facts so far as they are known:

Seven people were taken to hospitals, some by helicopter, said Darlene Lynn of Marshall County Emergency Management.
The shooter is in custody, she said.

More information about the Kentucky school shooting has been released. Now 2 are dead and 17 are injured. This is now an official mass shooting- way too common in America. This was preventable as they all are.

Sigh.

Yesterday a 16 year old boy wielding a gun he should not have had in the first place, opened fire and one girl was taken to the hospital after being shot in a Texas school:

The suspect was a student who left the Italy High building immediately after firing several shots with a .380-caliber handgun in the cafeteria, officials say. Usually 45 to 55 students are in the cafeteria at that time. (…)

“This could have been avoidable,” she said. “There were so many signs.”

Shook said she first went to school officials after the boy allegedly made a “hit list” in eighth grade and her name was on it. Then last year, the boy got angry during a class and threw a pair of scissors at her friend and later threw a computer against a wall, she said.

“I ran out of the classroom screaming, telling everyone to hide because I was scared,” Shook said.

Where is common sense?  Given that there were warning signs that the shooter had anger issues, why in the world did he have a gun? Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult. Guns need to be safely stored and locked, unloaded, if they are in the home with children and teens. More information will come out about how this boy got a gun. The most important thing is that adults are responsible for kids getting guns. And if there are warning signs, clearly kids like this should not have access to a gun.

Kids know something as one girl reported. She knew this boy was potentially dangerous to himself or others. See something, say something. These kinds of shooting are avoidable as was quoted in the article.

The Brady Campaign has a program called Speak-Up that is a toll free number for kids to call if they suspect that a school shooting could happen.

Sigh.

And the 3rd school shooting? Oh- just a drive by in New Orleans outside of a school causing a slight injury:

Police said someone in a dark pickup truck drove by The NET Charter High School, in the 6600 block of Franklin Avenue, and fired while a group of students were in front of the school, in the parking lot. The shooting took place about 1:30 p.m., principal Elizabeth Ostberg said.

One boy was injured: While police initially said the 14-year-old had a graze wound from a bullet, NOPD later said that the boy’s injury to his elbow was not consistent with a gunshot graze and was actually an abrasion.

From the story, it sounds like other students had some connection to guns as well. We are talking about young teens. Clearly they should not guns. It’s lunacy really.

Gun Violence Archive tells us that so far this year, 191 children and teens 17 or under have been killed or injured by bullets. It’s only January 23rd.

Since I included a link provided by CNN, I want to talk about another gun story that has flown under the radar in the news affecting the news agency. An angry man threatened to shoot CNN employees in Michigan, being angry about the accusations of #fakenews against the media group coming from none other than our President:

Griesemer allegedly called CNN 22 times on Jan. 9 and 10, railing against African-Americans, Jews and CNN from the same phone number that was used in September to communicate threats against an Islamic center in Ann Arbor, according to an FBI affidavit.

The affidavit said that Griesemer, whose age was not listed, admitted to local police that he made the call to the mosque and that he was “angry at the time of the call.”

Four of the 22 calls to CNN included explicit threats, according to the FBI. In one of the calls, the caller said: “Fake news. I’m coming to gun you all down.” In another call, he said, “I’m coming for you, CNN. I’m smarter than you. More powerful than you. I have more guns than you. More manpower. Your cast is about to get gunned down in a matter of hours.”

This one could have resulted in death and injury to innocent people. Words mean something. Attacks against the media made by a President who has a vendetta against what he has decided is #fakenews is very dangerous. When this kind of rhetoric comes right from the top, it is not surprising that an unhinged person with guns will decided to take action.

This is lunacy. Words matter. Having access to guns matter when one is too angry to think through consequences.

This is why we should be passing Extreme Risk Protection Order bills so that if a family member is concerned that someone with guns could be a danger to themselves or others, guns can be temporarily removed to avoid a tragedy to protect innocent people from harm.

We can do this America. Demand solutions and answers. We can save lives if we decide we are going to stand up and make our voices heard.