Primary school massacre in Texas, USA, killing 19 children and two teachers, was recorded as one of the bloodiest school attacks in the country’s history.
Reminding that gun ‘men’ are behind most of the armed attacks in the USA, journalist and TEDWomen curator Pat Mitchell calls on the global and US women’s movement to raise their voice against individual armament.
Pat Mitchell
As I have attempted to find some way to cope with the overwhelming tragedy of another massacre (and it is just that, mass murder, now referred to as ‘school shootings’ as if it’s a category of murder), I have read other people’s words and reflections, seeking some way to turn the absolute despair that comes with this grief into doing something — taking some action beyond praying for the families.
With each of these horrific incidents, this country moves further toward being a civilization willing to sacrifice our children in order to sustain a “right” that has long since moved from its original purpose in our Constitution, one that now has become the right to turn the majority of U.S. citizens who see the damage and danger of our “right to bear arms” into hostages to a non-taxed, sparsely represented pro-gun lobby.
Nearly 60% of Americans favor gun safety legislation, but a mere 60 senators, elected to serve all of the people in their states, choose to ignore the majority in order to secure their own political positions. They offer prayers as if that will restore the lives lost to guns in the hands of madmen.
Madmen yes, because nearly all of these assassins who can get guns no matter their background or mental stability are men — usually young men. In an FBI list of active shooter incidents in the United States from 2000 to 2018, CNN reports that only nine of 250 incidents identified involved female shooters.
Guns are now the leading cause of death among American children and teens. According to a report released by the CDC last month, 4,368 kids died from gun violence in 2020, compared to almost 4,000 who died in car crashes. There are some serious racial disparities in the data, too: Black children aged 1 to 19 have died from gunfire at a rate more than four times that of white kids. Wondering what the stats are in your state?
I call on the global community of women, and especially now American women—mothers, wives, sisters, colleagues—to lead whatever actions are necessary to put reasonable, compassionate leaders into the positions where the decisions about gun safety are made. This means campaigning against the political leaders who kowtow to the companies and vocal minority, and putting forward reasonable, compassionate leaders in their place.
Speak up, speak out, stand up and show up: Yes, that’s how I define being dangerous enough to meet the challenges of dangerous times, and as this week makes tragically clear yet again, we are living in dangerous times.
We can’t be silent or sit on the sidelines while our children and our communities are in danger every day because guns are available and in the hands of so many who would not be able to have them with common sense gun safety legislation. Note the countries that have such laws and compare the numbers of deaths by guns. Guns, especially assault weapons, kill people. To deny that is insanity, just as it is insane for a democracy to allow such tragedies to happen again and again and offer prayers, rather than protection under the law.
You can read the full article here.