We Are The Gun Violence That Surrounds Us

Some Americans subscribe to the thinking that if we hear something repeated often enough, it must be true; therefore, it is true, but that is not reality. To move on and to love our country (I do) is to grasp the truth of what our government is and to understand its imperfections, fight overreach, demand answers, and make our way in it. It is not easy and requires Americans to both think and act.

Yesterday, according to news reports, a 20-year-old male (man? boy?) was killed after a failed attempt at assassinating former President and current Republican candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump was injured, one spectator killed, and another wounded. Immediately, cries came from all sides of the political world, saying that this is not who we (Americans) are and that we are better than this.

The reality is different from politicians’ cries. This is precisely who we are and what we have been for some time. There is a preponderance of evidence to support this statement. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in 1968, George C. Wallace was paralyzed in a 1972 shooting, and in 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt was uninjured when an attempted assassination failed due to folded papers and a metal case in his pocket. Nine U.S. presidents have been victims of assassination attempts; three died immediately, and one, James Garfield, died a month after the incident. (PBS.org)

It’s not only candidates. On August 24, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse (17), armed with an AR-15 style rifle, drove approximately 22 miles from Antioch, Wisconsin, to Kenosha, where he shot three unarmed men at a protest. Two of the men died, and one, a paramedic, sustained severe injuries. Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges. He went to the protest on a mission to protect property. He shot three unarmed men because he was afraid. A jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse.

On January 13, 2014, 43-year-old Chad Oulson, at a movie theater in Florida, was shot and killed by 71-year-old Curtis Reeves after words were exchanged and Oulson threw popcorn in Reeves’s face. According to surveillance footage, Oulson threw the popcorn at Reeve’s face, and then Reeves, a former Police SWAT Captain, took out a .380 semi-automatic handgun and shot and killed Oulson. (abcnews.go.com) A jury acquitted Reeves on February 25, 2022. Reeves’s defense was he was afraid. (There are too many documented cases to list)

On December 8, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down NYS’s strict gun-permitting process for gun carry that included applicants for a gun permit showing a need to prove that the applicant had a particular need to defend themselves, stating the Constitution’s second amendment was being infringed upon. (scotusblog.com)

The good old days weren’t what many people would like to believe. We are, as has been exposed time and again, a nation composed of people who shoot first and think later. Many of the shooters claim they were afraid for their lives. Why are we so fearful? Donald Trump was surrounded by law enforcement, and yet he was shot, as were people in the crowd before the killer was shot and killed. 

Americans must look hard at themselves and who they elect to office. Candidates are not omnipotent and all-knowing. Thinking America is great and then supporting people running for office who we know are severely flawed robs us of our dignity, destroys the cherished privilege of the election process, and destroys the opportunity to make America all it can be.

Pat