Looks like you can’t even go to a neighborhood block party these days without wondering if you’re be a witness to, innocent bystander or unfortunate victim in the next and almost daily saga of what’s become our nation’s new normal: “Blazing Guns — American Style.”
This time, gunfire erupted on Tuesday, Aug. 20 during an evening celebration — just one day before the scheduled opening of classes for the fall semester.
Several students were injured in a shooting near the campus in the City’s Southwest section. Four female students, 17 through 19, sustained injuries, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and remain listed in stable condition. But some students find themselves unable to get into their rooms as their dorms are inside the crime scene. Police reports indicate that the gunfire occurred following a confrontation between two separate groups and that, as is often the case, students were struck by bullets while in the crossfire.
It’s an all-too familiar scene that we can only pray will one day become an abnormality on the American horizon. But with President Donald Trump once again changing lanes and abandoning his days-earlier promise to ramp up background checks for those seeking gun purchases, we cannot express confidence that the change most Americans demand, will be forthcoming in the near future.
No matter how you spin it, the truth of the matter is, guns do kill people and placing the blame on mental illness will not reduce the frequency of these tragic occurrences.