At 11:00 am our President has asked us for a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting violence that brought Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords close to death, 6 others tragically murdered, and 14 others wounded. A moment of silence is appropriate.
When is enough enough? Back when President Reagan was shot and James Brady was injured for life, the Brady Bill to stop gun violence got some momentum, but vehemently and successfully opposed by the NRA. Columbine Shootings? Virginia Tech? So many tragedys past and yet it is of a catastrophic proportion that a moment of silence isn't enough. Now we must act, because if we continue to be marginally sad and horrified without doing anything, we are part of the problem.
I Googled keywords-American gun violence statistics 2010, and got about 4,260,000 results in 0.26 seconds. Fortunately keywords-Peace and Love in America, about 9,570,000 results in 0.33 seconds. But Peace and Love have a formidable enemy.
Enough apathy, enough rhetoric about a mentally unstable person who might have fallen through the cracks (I say gaping holes of our health system) would have found a way to kill. But on this proportion? This murderer, this shooter for me remains nameless. It's not his name but his act that scares me. The names I want to know are the victims, and the hero's that did tackle the shooter to save more lives at their own potential peril.
A New York state representative was quoted as saying "Acts of violence against American's is unacceptable." I'd say that sounds too much like political rhetoric. Suffice to say violence is unacceptable, period!
Yes a moment of silence indeed, then pick up the phone call your representatives and demand to review America's violence trends and start the heavy task of ending gun violence in America.
Update
on 2011-01-10 18:00 by NYC Subway Girl
Thoughtful op ed piece in NY Times today.
and this from Drew Weston on Huffington Post: Drew WestenPsychologist and neuroscientist; Emory University Professor Posted: January 10, 2011 12:50 AM