July 4th
With protests and prices of everything on a continued upswing, and the large rift between the left and the right, and other contending groups, the resulting fragmented America has already very little to collectively celebrate on their nation's birthday.
Active Shooter
It is even more sombering that when someone shot at people gathered at a July 4th parade in Highland Park Illinois, the prevailing mood is automatically one of hate over those belonging to the opposite political color, and their elected officials. And worse, most have become numb to the news about another shooting -- the same way they are numb to gang shootings, the War in Ukraine and other parts around the world, child abuse and human trafficking.
The Highland Park shooter has not been identified or caught. And this doesn't bade well for the low image of law enforcement. This is also another blow at the efforts of law abiding gun owners and diehard proponents of the 2nd Amendment.
Nexus
It is almost hard to not think about if somehow, some people are behind these wave of shootings. (Like, have we asked ourselves who will benefit if there is suddenly a wave of gun shootings? This we can liken to the question why cover the Amber Heard, Johnny Depp trial but not the Ghislaine Maxwell trial?)
What is surprising is that nobody is talking about the fact that unlike from states like Texas and Arkansas, Illinois has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, including a law requiring background checks on all gun sales, an Extreme Risk law, and laws keeping guns away from domestic abusers.
(Source: Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, Inc.)
Active Shooter
It is even more sombering that when someone shot at people gathered at a July 4th parade in Highland Park Illinois, the prevailing mood is automatically one of hate over those belonging to the opposite political color, and their elected officials. And worse, most have become numb to the news about another shooting -- the same way they are numb to gang shootings, the War in Ukraine and other parts around the world, child abuse and human trafficking.
The Highland Park shooter has not been identified or caught. And this doesn't bade well for the low image of law enforcement. This is also another blow at the efforts of law abiding gun owners and diehard proponents of the 2nd Amendment.
Nexus
It is almost hard to not think about if somehow, some people are behind these wave of shootings. (Like, have we asked ourselves who will benefit if there is suddenly a wave of gun shootings? This we can liken to the question why cover the Amber Heard, Johnny Depp trial but not the Ghislaine Maxwell trial?)
What is surprising is that nobody is talking about the fact that unlike from states like Texas and Arkansas, Illinois has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, including a law requiring background checks on all gun sales, an Extreme Risk law, and laws keeping guns away from domestic abusers.
(Source: Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, Inc.)
There is a stalemate as regards to a universal or nationwide gun law. This will most likely continue, every state will continue to have different gun laws and ordinances.
Although it is true that states with a high rate of gun ownership correlates to higher gun violence rates, several states with the strongest gun laws do not necessarily translate to less gun violence, and vice-versa.
Americans will need to continue to petition the lawmakers they themselves voted into office, to effect a change within their cities. Let us quit worrying more about what happens in other states and be more concerned with what is happening within our neck of the woods.
In the meantime, happy birthday America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. And the land of immigrants and people who hate America and want to leave the country, but are still here in the good ole' U S A.
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