And it’s only May

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today:

“In the US so far this year there have been at least 198 mass shootings in which four or more people were killed or wounded, according to the Gun Violence Archive.”

Sometimes I am sad, sometimes I am infuriated, sometimes I am just frustrated that we have a country that stands for this. Only in our country – the grand old USA – do we tolerate this. Is it our system? Do politics make it so difficult to change laws, change practices, prevent these tragedies? Is this a cultural issue, that so many people feel so strongly about owning guns and being able to do what they want with them?

The individuals stories are horrible, like Uvalde, and the man who shot a teenager who knocked on his door and the man who shot and killed a young girl who turned around in his driveway. What are these people so afraid of?

All this, and the statistics are as powerful as the stories. Yet…our lawmakers cannot find it in themselves to address the problem with anything stronger than thoughts and prayers.

sigh.