We parents prefer not
to think about it. It’s unthinkable yet entirely within the realm of
possibility. Innocent children are shot all the time in the United States.
Innocent adults are too. In 2019 alone, 40,000 people died of gunshot wounds in
the U.S.
Mass shootings at
schools and bars and churches and concerts are routine enough that they have
lost their impact on our collective psyche. We can put them out of mind in a
matter of days. That’s unhealthy.
Contrast that with
the March mosque shootings in New Zealand. Rather than put the shocking and
horrific act of violence out of mind, public officials there reacted by
organizing a country-wide gun buyback. It will cost about $200 million, but in
New Zealand it’s understood that horrific violence by firearms demands
immediate action.
Friday, June 7, is
National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and it kicks off Wear Orange Weekend.
Following the 2013 death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago, where she
was gathered in a park with friends and fell victim to a misplaced bullet, her
loved ones organized Wear Orange Weekend. People across the U.S. wear orange,
the color worn by hunters to protect themselves, to raise awareness about gun
violence, a perfectly preventable pandemic.
Santa Barbara has a
gun buyback program organized by the Coalition Against Gun Violence. This
annual event will be held from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, June 15 at Earl
Warren Showgrounds. Over the past five years, the event has removed 1,200 guns
from our communities. Anonymous people voluntarily turn over functional
firearms for gift cards, and the event has been highly successful. If you have
a firearm sitting around your home, bring it in. Who needs a gun?