Guns and Babies: Enough is Enough!

A recent report published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions said firearms were the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the United States for the third consecutive year! That’s a hard fact to swallow. It gets even worse when it happens in your city, your child’s school, or to your child. It’s time we said “enough is enough,” and then did something.

The fear hit my city this week. A student-shooter, a school, and deaths and injuries. All too common today. Two things worried me my entire police career — the death of one of my officers and a mass-shooting at one of our schools.

Now retired from policing, I watch the news instead of handling the incident. I hear local and national officials send their prayers and condolences. But what I don’t hear is what they propose to do about the problem — the carnage — the deaths of our children. Any control of firearms is too hot an issue and it can get politicians un-elected! So nothing ever happens.

But it’s gone too far. And time to venture beyond what’s politic! The Founders of this country no more could imagine what their Second Amendment would mean today than they could imagine a firearm shooting more than one bullet at a time or that we would one day walk on the moon.

Yes, it’s always time for prayers, condolences, and to support the children and families traumatically injured by these events — but it’s also time to act!

I don’t know what you think must be done, but I would hope (and pray) for one thing– that we, reasonable, thinking people, could come together and agreed to take some action. We require our kids to buckle up in our automobiles, have special seats for them when they are young, and require them to be licensed and regulated when they, one day become drivers. These steps have saved many children through the years. We also legislate safety features for our automobiles and the roads on which they operate. And think about all the regulations we accept surrounding hunting in order to protect our natural environment — licensing and hunting regulations regarding time of day, clothing, types of weapons and ammunition. (Here’s an example from my state.)

The present situation cannot continue. I believe we, together, left and right, can agree to take some reasonable steps to reduce the number of children killed each year in their school rooms by firearms! (For example, here are five suggested actions from research at John Hopkins University that will make a difference.)

What I learned through my years in policing is that our life together in community matters as to the quality of our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren. To me, this means we should be willing to alter some of our implied “rights” in order for all of us to live in harmony and safety with other people — together in community, one nation. Isn’t this who we are?

And is it too much to ask?