GUNS KILL PEOPLE. SO DOES CONGRESS.

BRAD·
POTPOURRI
··3 min read
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CONGRESS, YOUR SILENCE ON GUNS IS KILLING US.

This morning, 8-10 have died another 12 injured as a result of a shooting at Texas’s Santa Fe High School. According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, most of the dead are students.  Per The Washington Post’s school shooting database, Christopher Ingraham reported that “the Santa Fe Shooting would be the 16th this year, putting 2018 in a tie with 2014 for the highest number of school shootings since Columbine. It’s only May.” CNN reports that this is the 22nd school shooting this year.  Congress has remained silent. National gun laws have not changed. Yes guns kill people, but so does Congress by staying silent on guns. Blood is on their hands.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg tweeted: “Get ready for two weeks of media coverage of politicians acting like they give a shit when in reality they just want to boost their approval ratings before midterms.” Based on previous school shootings, Hogg is probably right. Congressional members have already been tweeting their ‘thoughts and prayers’ but will there be any substantial legislation that makes it to the House or Senate floors?

What is particularly interesting, if you browse Twitter, is that the events at Santa Fe High School are not surprising to anyone. The devastation and the heartbreak that used to come with School Shootings has seemed to dissipate. Instead, we are either left feeling desensitized or angry.

We refuse to become desensitized. We refuse not to speak up. And we hope you feel the same.  We hope you, too, have had enough. We’re pissed. We are pissed that more people aren’t pissed. We’re pissed that Congress refuses to do anything. None of this is normal. It will never be normal. Stop trying to pretend this is normal. And stop waiting for this to happen in your community before you get mad or decide to speak up.

A reporter asked a student who was in Santa Fe High school at the time of the shooting just hours ago, “Was there a part of you that was like, ‘this isn’t real, this would not happen at my school?’ She responded: “No…It’s been happening everywhere; I always kind of felt like eventually, it was going to happen here too.” No student should feel that a school shooting is bound to happen at their school. This isn’t normal.

WHY ARE WE OKAY WITH THIS?

A month ago, @mukethemusical tweeted photos from the Student Walk Out at Santa Fe Texas High School. She held a sign with the hashtag: #NeverAgain.  During Student Walk Out Da, @Mukethemusical and her fellow students made their voices heard. Unfortunately, not loud enough. We owe it to the Santa Fe, Texas community to make our voices heard. Enough is enough. How many more innocent people have to die before Congress acts? How many more times will Congress fail its constituents?

How come no one listened to these students who participate in National School Walkout Day? How come we couldn’t be there for them and promise them that if they walked back into their classrooms that they would remain safe? Why aren’t we providing our kids’ safe communities? Haven’t we learned lessons from previous school shootings?

We have spent time since Parkland documenting the March for Our Lives movement. We suggest you read those posts: Will the Kids Be All Right? A New Generation Takes the Lead in America’s Gun Debate;  March For Our Lives: We are going to be a great generation; and After March For Our Lives, They’re Not Going Away. We need to talk about the more. We need to have more discussions. The bloodshed needs to stop.

Please do yourself and every student killed in their schools a favor. Register to vote and register others to vote.   If congress or state legislatures or governors won’t do something than it is on us to make sure we elect members who will. You can register here: REGISTER TO VOTE.

We wanted to post tweets from students who know what the Santa Fe students are going through and who are fighting to ensure more students do not have to go through this trauma and pain again. We will update as more come in.

See also

https://twitter.com/sofiewhitney/status/997503513805680641

https://twitter.com/casforachange/status/997487981199069184

 

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