What is going on in the United States? The president stands up in front of the world at his 2020 campaign rallies like a tent rival preacher. Only he spouts out white nationalist phrases and endorsements to a hungry crowd. Angry people, who are starving for an answer to a disappearing middle-class, feed on his words. They see no solution, but there is one.
People can and do come together as a country to grieve. In mass shootings, the bullets are not Democratic or Republican, black or brown or white. Bullets only see the red of blood running in the streets. America is better than this.
The TIME magazine cover brings some answers, an understanding of the magnitude of this problem. It is one so vast it bends the minds and hurts the heart. Check out the new TIME cover that shows each of the 250 American mass shootings in the first 230 days of this year, a problem that once seen could then be addressed:
A team made up of writers and editors at TIME magazine decides what to put on the next cover. They discussed the three mass shootings that happened within a one-week period and killed 34 people, some as young as six-years-old.
Last year, the cover went to the five survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. The word “ENOUGH” ran across the image. This year, the question that arose was at what point were the mass shootings enough? The author, Edward Felenthal wrote:
‘…OUR MEASURES OF HOW OBSCENELY NORMALIZED DOMESTIC TERROR HAS BECOME. AT TIME, ONE IS HOW FREQUENTLY WE HAVE FELT COMPELLED TO DEVOTE OUR COVER TO THE SUBJECT. IN MY OWN LESS THAN TWO YEARS IN THIS JOB, WE’VE RUN SEVEN OF THEM, FROM THE 2017 MASSACRE AT A LAS VEGAS MUSIC FESTIVAL THAT KILLED 58 PEOPLE TO THIS SPRING’S MURDER OF 50 WORSHIPPERS AT MOSQUES IN CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.’
The number of victims continues: 58 at a Las Vegas music festival, 50 members of the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand:
‘TERRIFIED CHILDREN WHO SURVIVED SANDY HOOK WALKING SINGLE FILE TO SAFETY. GIANT PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DEAD AT THE PRAYER VIGIL FOR THE VICTIMS AT EMANUEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CHARLESTON. THE SIDE-BY-SIDE GRAVES OF TWO BROTHERS KILLED, AMONG 11 ALTOGETHER, AT THE TREE OF LIFE SYNAGOGUE IN PITTSBURGH. SEARING IMAGES AND YET SOMEHOW FORGOTTEN BY LEADERS WITH THE POWER TO EFFECT CHANGE.’
Gun violence research in America shows that mental illness and violent video-games show up equally in European countries and elsewhere. None of them have the gun violence that the U.S. has. The only other variable is the number of available guns: 265 million firearms in circulation in this nation.
TIME’s author Edward Felsenthal wrote:
‘I GREW UP IN A FAMILY OF GUN OWNERS AND HAVE ALWAYS USED THEM RESPONSIBLY. BUT IT SHOULDN’T BE EASIER TO OWN AND USE A GUN THAN TO OWN AND DRIVE A CAR. WHY SHOULD GUN MANUFACTURERS BE SHIELDED FROM LIABILITY THAT INCENTIVIZES NEARLY EVERY OTHER MANUFACTURER OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS IN AMERICA TO THINK ABOUT SAFETY? RETAILERS CAN FOLLOW THE LEAD OF COMPANIES LIKE DICK’S SPORTING GOODS, WHICH ENDED SALES OF ASSAULT-STYLE WEAPONS AFTER THE PARKLAND MASSACRE. SIMPLE SAFETY TECHNOLOGY, THE KIND THAT POWERS SMART HOMES, CARS AND PHONES, CAN ALSO BE APPLIED TO GUNS.”
Aryam Guerrero’s brother Juan Ramon died in the Orlando nightclub massacre at the Pulse. She said she was just numb:
‘I JUST LIVE MY LIFE AS IF I COULD DIE IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LIVE WITH IT. WE DO HAVE A CHOICE AS A SOCIETY. NOT A PERFECT CHOICE. OR A GUARANTEED SOLUTION. BUT DOING NOTHING IN THE FACE OF REPEATED MASS MURDER IN OUR SOCIETY IS INDEFENSIBLE. MORE THAN 250 MASS SHOOTINGS IN THE FIRST 220 DAYS OF 2019 ALONE, IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS DOESN’T GO WITHOUT SAYING.
ENOUGH.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
