It is a sad state of affairs over the past week. Our “shining city on a hill” has been tarnished by gun violence….again. I wonder how many of the shootings were done by “men of faith.” Religions vary; but most have the same core tenants. I will return to this later, in another part, while I’m on my soapbox. For the record, I am a gun owner.
Would you like to hear a few sobering facts on gun violence? Since 2019 started, just over 250 days ago…
- There have been 251 mass shootings (USA Today, 3 Aug 2019).
- As of August 4th, 2019; 272 people have been killed by mass shootings in this great land, and another 1047 wounded (Gun Violence Archive) this year alone! Would you like more sobering news? So far this year, 8,734 human beings have been killed by gun violence, with an additional 17,309 human beings wounded by acts of gun violence. Of the 33,030-gun incidents this year (remember, we’re only 2/3 of the way through this year), only 1,196 (3.6%) have involved law enforcement, and of those, 182 have resulted in the loss of life (15.2%).
- By contrast, there have been 25 US servicemen and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been 66 combat wounded. Combat figures found on icasualties.org.
- The US Gun homicide rate is 25 times, 25X, higher than other affluent countries. For our younger population (15 – 24 years old), it is 49X higher! (Harvard School of Public Health).
So, what the H E double hockey sticks is going on here? America is the shining beacon of the West; how could this happen in this great land? How can one NOT feel safe in this country? To hold you over, take a gander at one of my former posts regarding the Charleston, SC shootings.
Stay tuned for part 2, coming in the next couple of days…
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