By now, news of the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas that took the lives of 58 people and injured 515 has reached around the globe. It is a sobering reminder of the possibility of violence and evil at every turn.
But that's not all it is.
Local news stations have kicked it up a notch. One where I live in Rochester, New York ran an article entitled "What to do if you get caught in a mass shooting." It should be difficult to understand that we've become so numb to an event like this, that we're handing out tips on how to survive it properly as if readers are guaranteed to need that information someday.
We as Americans have either committed ourselves so deeply to the lie that nothing can be done about Gun Violence without infringing upon the Second Amendment, or we lack the courage to admit that we care more about guns than people. All the thoughts in the world will not substitute for carefully crafted legislation, and no prayer is going to bring back the dead, due to our inaction.
To all those political opportunists who are seizing on the tragedy in Las Vegas to call for more gun regs...You can't regulate evil...
— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) October 2, 2017
Statements like the tweet above by Governor Matt Bevin, are intended to forestall even the idea that there lies any kind of workable solution to gun violence, preferring instead to say the victims of Las Vegas were attacked by someone "evil." Of course the shooter is evil.
The question is whether or not he is a preventable evil. Even if the answer is no, it's certainly not; let's not even try.
Blaming the victim
Gun advocates and conservatives would prefer to watch people die by the droves and then show them instructional videos on being more aware of their surrounding,s than to engage in an honest conversation about the role of guns in American life.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary, stated that talking about gun policy was "premature." That is not adequate. It is not just. It does not honor the victims. It only seeks to applaud doing nothing, as doing something.
For every article or video posted explaining to ordinary citizens why they should daily be prepared for a terror attack, we are saying that the power for avoiding this tragedy rests squarely on their shoulders.
We are saying that whether or not they lived or died was due to their actions, rather than the actions of the deranged man that slaughtered them.
We should dispense with any version of the notion that our actions during a mass shooting have anything to do with causes or prevention of gun violence. Doing so helps us get on with the actual conversation, without pretending that having everyone armed to the hilt is an ideal scenario and tenable solution for the citizens of America. We can honor those who have died by allowing ourselves to question why - and by caring about the answer.
