Here we go again…

This week I’ve been wondering just how many more people need to die before this country does SOMETHING to curb gun violence.

2996 people died on 9/11 and we did something about that…

2403 people died at Pearl Harbor and we did something about that…

From 2004 to 2014, 303 Americans were killed in terrorist attacks worldwide, according to State Department reports and we’ve tried to so something about that… But during that same time frame, 320,523 Americans were killed because of gun violence and we’ve not really done anything about that… ( http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/05/viral-image/fact-checking-comparison-gun-deaths-and-terrorism-/ )

In 2015 some 13,286 people were killed in the US by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive…we’ve really not done anything to make this number who die each year go down rather than up.

Did you know that:
-Gun homicides are a common cause of death in the United States, killing about as many people as car crashes (not counting van, truck, motorcycle or bus accidents). (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html

-Since 1968, more than 1.5 million Americans have died in gun-related incidents, according to data the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By comparison, approximately 1.2 million service members have been killed in every war in U.S. history, according to estimates from the Department of Veterans Affairs and iCasualities.org, a website that maintains an ongoing database of casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ( https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/more-americans-killed-guns-1968-all-u-s-wars-combined-n807156 )

I find these statistics rather chilling and keep wondering just how many more people need to die before we as a people stand up and say enough is enough to the powerful gun lobby and manufacturers who clearly have a hold on our elected officials.

We rally when yet another mass shooting incident occurs for a brief moment as our hearts go out to those suffering with their losses. Then nothing changes. And another mass shooting unfolds and catches our attention and our hearts yet once again. And then nothing changes…it goes on and on and on. And nothing changes.

The truth is that any one of us could be the next victim in a mass shooting! It could be you or me or someone we love or someone we know…it could happen at the school or church just down the street or the concert you’ve looked forward to attending or the next community event your family goes to. No one is immune or safe from this reality anymore!

What can and will you do to make this stop?