I am entirely heartbroken this Valentines day. And you should be too. Because unfortunately, today, we as a country have witnessed yet another mass shooting.
Again.
Truly, there are too many to keep up with. But this is the third time I have written about this subject (you can read about the other ones here and here). Quite frankly I was over it before the first post.
As I rocked my sweet 9 month old to sleep in my arms, all I could think about was the 17 families who will not have their teenager in their arms tonight. Or ever again.
I am heartbroken. That kind of pain is unfathomable.
I know everyone wants to find a motive and know why. But really, does it matter? If your child or friend or sister or brother was one of the 17 killed today, does the motive matter?
I propose that here forward we just assume that the motive of every mass shooting is to draw attention the the fact that we desperately need better gun control in this country. No civilian needs a semiautomatic weapon. Which, by the way, is a common denominator in every recent mass shooting.
Politics are not, and have never been my thing.
But empathy is. Loving each other is. Showing respect to every human life regardless of whether I agree with them or like them or think they are pleasant is.
At the end of the day, I can’t help but feel like a tiny piece of this is my fault. And honestly all of our faults for continuing to be OK with the fact that this keeps happening and we keep being OK with no action. So I have started following Everytown, an organization whose mission is to end gun violence in america. I would urge you to follow them as well.
And today, I also made a financial contribution to Everytown, because I’m realizing that if I just keep blogging about this, I am no better than someone who merely tweets a condolence and keeps going.
I refuse to believe that we cannot do anything about this. For the sake of so many innocent lives taken by gun violence, lets commit to action. Lets commit to change.
Trina Knapek says
Couldn’t have said it better Brittany!
thegingerlifeblog@gmail.com says
Thanks Trina! Hope y’all are doing well 🙂