It’s July 6th: 309 Mass Shootings So Far

by Anne Paddock

July 4th is the day we celebrate our country – the United States of America – whose states don’t seem united on many issues but especially on guns. When the nation’s 309th mass shooting killed 7 people and injured dozens of bystanders at an Independence Day (the irony is not lost on anyone) parade in Highland Park, Illinois, I was in my home where I tend to be more these days because I am afraid to be in a place with crowds.

When my husband asked me if I wanted to go see Top Gun, we went on line to look at how many seats were already sold and decided better to not go given that the theaters would be crowded. We shouldn’t have to do this but we do because on average there are nearly 2 mass shootings a day in the US. That’s two too many for us.

I know very few people who think assault weapons, and specifically the AF15 should be sold to the public. The AR15 is meant to kill a lot of people very quickly and was designed for war, not our schools, supermarkets, post offices, or Main Street. Why is it that an 18 year old can buy an assault weapon in Texas but cannot purchase a pistol until age 21? In fact, with most mass shootings carried out by males under the age of 40, why are we even selling assault weapons to them? Has anyone bothered to ask why young males are nearly always behind mass shootings?

Defenders have said that “guns don’t kill people, bad people do.” Well guess what, we have a lot of really bad people in this country and because we do, they shouldn’t be allowed to purchase any gun but especially an assault weapon.

There isn’t another country in the world that has as many mass shootings as we do because guns are much more restricted (and the number of deaths by gun don’t lie). The really sad thing about the United States is that we value personal freedom more than we value life (except when it comes to a woman’s right to choose whether she wants to continue or terminate a pregnancy), and that’s a sad take on this country, and why so many people are being shot and killed every single day.

So let’s see here: nearly every mass shooting is done by a male, and primarily young males but we do nothing to restrict their ability to get a gun or assault weapon; nearly every abortion is the result of a female’s decision, and primarily young females but we restrict/outlaw a woman’s right to make that decision even if she’s been raped or a victim of incest.