The recent mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, continues a disturbing trend for 2022 with the number of such incidents now around 309 – with more inevitably to come.
Years ago, when the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary occurred Dec. 14, 2012, Americans were shocked that something so terrible, so heinous, so callous could occur in our own country – particularly at the hands of another American.
Back then, America still seemed more focused on weapons of mass destruction and the efforts of foreign agents to cause havoc in the U.S. But as the number of mass shootings has continued to escalate, most, if not all committed by disgruntled, if not mentally impaired American citizens, one has to wonder why our legislators and other officials have not done more to bring an end to such incidents.
In the latest mass shooting, the alleged shooter had a history of mental health challenges including an attempted suicide and a documented threat to murder his entire family. Yet, he still was able to purchase guns under his own name and with relative ease.
The bullets seem to fly with reckless abandon with shootings taking place everywhere – from small suburbs like Highland Park to major urban locations.
And while the president has flags flying at half-mast at the White House, families and friends in the Chicago suburb are left to bury their loved ones – the youngest being just eight years old. One couple who died in the melee, leave their two-year-old son, whose father protected the child by shielding him with his own body, to grow up as an orphan.
Haven’t we had enough? How much more must Americans endure?
Where are our priorities? While the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade to protect the yet unborn, what about those already living?
Don’t they matter just as much? Apparently, they – we – do not.