Two mass shootings took place yesterday (December 3, 2015). One was in San Bernardino, California; the other in Savannah, Georgia. Only the former would be classified as a mass killing, as the latter one had one woman die and three injured (still more than should be).
The Washington Post notes how we now have had 355 mass shootings in the span of 336 calendar days in 2015. I’m not sure we can really fathom the reality here. It’s beyond getting my head around.
I want to point you to the thoughts of Clint Schnekloth, pastor of a Lutheran church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He had something interesting to bring up, something many folk won’t in the verbiage vitriol on both sides of gun rights:
Over the last fifty years our nation completely reduced deaths caused by cigarettes, deaths in vehicles because of lack of seat belts and other safety devices, deaths due to household fires, drunk driving, and more.
The big difference between these reductions and our failure to reduce deaths by gun violence? All of the other ones were reduced because of major public health campaigns.
So why aren’t there major public health campaigns about gun violence? Answer: Because the federal government passed a law in the 80s that makes funding for public health campaigns about guns illegal.
I think people on all sides of the aisle are actually in favor of a public health campaign for gun safety. There’s only one group that isn’t. It’s the NRA.
I really believe the way forward is a grassroots nation-wide campaign to reverse the law against funding for public health campaigns for guns.
What this is referring to is something like this piece from the Washington Post, though this references what took place in 1996.
Here’s hoping doors are opened to funding for public campaigns about guns as we move forward for groups like the CDC. It’s helped in other areas, I believe it can help with guns.
The Prodigal Thought 