Today, on the 144th day of 2022, the 212th mass shooting occurred in the United States.
This time, it was at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The death toll is between 18 and 21 people. Most of the victims are small children who will not reach the age of ten.
Depending on the news source, there have been between 24 and 27 school shootings in this country THIS YEAR.
311,000 children have experienced gun violence since Columbine in 1999.
According to reporting from NPR, firearms were the leading cause of death for children from 2019 to 2020.
How many of readers of the Blog for Arizona knew that?
This is the United States of America.
Schools should not be a potential daily death trap for children and educators.
President Biden Reacts to Today's Horrific Shooting.
The reaction to today's horrific shooting unfortunately followed a familiar pattern. This includes:
- Grieving for the victims.
- Why and how could this horrific event occur...again?
- When will it ever end? When will these mass shootings decrease? When will children and educators be safer in schools?
- When will elected officials (mainly Republicans) act and enact common sense gun laws?
Coming back from Asia, President Biden spoke to the American People about today's horrific school shooting in Texas.
Accompanied by the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, the President, speaking from personal experience, offered prayers and comfort to the parents and families of today's fallen, saying:
"To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There's a hollowness in your chest. You feel like you're being sucked into it, suffocating, and it's never quite the same..."
The President then reminded people of some of the mass shootings that have taken place since Sandy Hook in 2012, including the supermarket shooting ten days ago in Buffalo.
He called for action to stem the growing tide of mass shootings, stating:
"As a nation, we have got to ask. When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God's name will we do we all know in our gut needs to be done?...I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage...We can't and won't prevent every tragedy...When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down. When the law expired, mass shootings tripled. The idea that an 18 year old kid could just go into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong. What in God's name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone. Deer aren't running through the forest with Kevlar Vests for God's sake. It's just sick...Most Americans support common sense laws. Common sense gun laws."
President Biden also compared our rash of mass shootings to the mostly lack of them in other countries, offering:
"I just got off a trip from Asia...What struck me was that these kind of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world. Why? They have mental health problems. They have domestic disputes in other countries. They have people who are lost. But these kind of mass shootings never happened with the kind of frequency that happen in America. Why? Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God's name is our backbone to have the courage to stand up to the lobbyists? It's time to turn this pain into action...For every elected official in this country, it's time to act. It's time for those who obstruct or delay or block the common sense gun laws, we need to let you know, we will not forget..."
Reaction from Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
Before the President spoke, Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden offered their reactions to today's school shooting in Texas.
Vice President Harris relayed:
"Enough is enough...As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action and understand the nexus between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to entrust something like this never happens again."
Dr. Biden posted:
https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1529242274130968576
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