We go to bed one night disturbed about news of a massacre.
And wake up the following morning to reports about still another slaughter.
Last weekend, more than 30 people were gunned down while shopping in El Paso, Texas, and clubbing in Dayton, Ohio.
There is no broadly accepted definition of a mass shooting, but what is known is such shootings only account for a fraction of the casualties of gun violence.
Yet, such unimaginable episodes as those last weekend capture our attention, sometimes for no other reason than concern for ourselves and our loved ones.
We cannot help but think about the vulnerability of those who died for no other reason than they were at Walmart or out enjoying a summer evening.
Are we next? Is Morgantown next? Is my child’s school next? Is my wife’s workplace next? Am I next?
Is it safe to go watch a movie, to go downtown, to go to the mall? Is this the America I want for my children and my grandchildren?
To those whose first reflex to this horrific carnage was to deflect blame from President Trump our response to them is he is responsible. Not only because of his stoking of racial divisions and fear of migrants, but his policies toward them are indecent, if not inhumane, including of children.
In May, at a political rally in Tallahassee, Fla., when Trump told his supporters you can’t “stop these people,” a man shouted, “Shoot them.”
Rather than call him out for inciting violence and hate, Trump said, “Only in the Panhandle can you get away with that statement.”
For the president’s information, you should not be able to get away with that “statement” anywhere at any event.
Needless, to say Trump’s statements about “invasions,” “infestations” and “animals, rapists and murderers” do not fall on deaf ears. The world is not only watching this president, but is listening and many of those listening are driven by hate, not mental illness.
The mentally ill exists in every nation around the globe. People play video games everywhere. And yes, racists can be found under every rock on Earth.
But nowhere does daily gun violence exist to such a magnitude as in our country.
There is no perfect answer to gun violence. No legislation will stop all mass shootings.
Yet, calls for “red flag” laws, safe storage requirements, limits on magazine capacities, banning assault weapons and universal background checks can all help.
It’s too late for last weekend’s victims of mass shootings and other gun violence.
But we are not asleep or helpless — there’s still time to protect those who may yet become the next victims.
EMAIL opinion@dominionpost.com
TWEET @DominionPostWV
