Four Hundred Million and Counting
There are 332.4 million people in America, with access to more than 400 million guns. According to the USCCA 46 of 50 states allow for the open carrying of firearms in public spaces. Guns, the sight, and normalization of them are commonplace in small towns and urban areas. This sanitized view of firearms in a nation shredded by gun violence is an issue, a great divide that may prove bigger than our abilities to cope with our differences.
More than 600 mass shootings have occurred this year in America. From the moment 21 were slaughtered in Uvalde which the Texas Tribune described as a “systematic failure”, something changed in America. Hardliner gun owners, Republican
politicians and Christian Nationalists continue to offer thoughts and prayers in a country where more than 60 percent of citizens are demanding legislation and sweeping gun reform.
To date, this year, more than 40,000 Americans are dead from gun violence, to include mass shootings, domestic violence, and suicides. According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 18,000 of those are caused by “intentional homicide.” In a society where there are by far, more guns than people, and where the deaths of 19 children and 2 teachers in Uvalde is now largely forgotten by many, what will it take for politicians to recognize that the loss of life will not stop until societal norms change?
As legislators, local, state, and national political leaders have the opportunity to change the tone of the debate and the course of our futures. However, politics is the great divide in a nation where Red and Blue are so much more than colors in the flag we all claim. When the rule makers are controlled by those who donate to their political coffers, they are in it for power; not for people.
The source of the money is the source of the problem in a country where 400 million guns are available, and more are mass-produced every day. It is time for common sense to prevail for the common good of the people who live and die in America; one nation under guns, divided and where justice is too often found at the barrel of a smoking AR15.
Parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, and every voter has the power to tell politicians that the problem is the guns, and if candidates refuse to acknowledge and work to change laws to protect us, we must not vote for them. There are too many guns in America. But, there are enough Americans to work, demand, and vote for change. It is the guns, and it is up to us to elect people who know that.