The unborn are now safe in the womb but by school age, they’re potential targets in a classroom. If you believe abortion is murder and should be illegal, that doesn’t make gun violence less tragic. Shooting another person is murder and has never been legal. Some politicians brag about protecting the unborn but ignore the safety of their electors.
The recently approved bipartisan gun legislation is progress but would not have changed the outcome of the Highland Park massacre. Safety prioritizes other parts of our lives: We use seat belts, inspect drinking water, obey traffic signals, but can’t protect ourselves from massacres. We should be able to go to the theater, grocery store, school and not return to our loved ones in a body bag.
Every day, gun violence grows in our country and every mass shooting spurs more gun purchases. Mental illness is a weak explanation for our national trend of massacres when there’s an estimated 400 million guns in our country. It is no coincident that the United States has more guns than population, and the most mass shootings worldwide. Everyone agrees that easy access to illegal weapons is a problem, but we must overcome political discourse, respect everyone’s rights, and find reasonable and attainable solutions. We must resolve to end gun violence.
Massacres continue because we have legal and political systems that advocate rights but not responsibilities. “Systemic failure” did not begin with the Uvalde police department but with the political indifference to the public’s overwhelming support for prevention of gun violence and this continuing carnage.
Evelyn Gallegos
Brighton
