We just had another mass shooting at a school. Even more children and teachers were murdered. Whenever this happens, we are told that now is not the time to discuss the problem. Now is the time to grieve and to support each other. That is absolutely true if you live in that community. For the rest of us, we have reached saturation. Truly horrible things happen, then we do nothing about it. People have literally told me that they don’t want to see news about the Parkland school shooting because the shooting will not lead to any changes. After Sandy Hook Elementary, it seems that, as a nation, we don’t care about protecting each other, even if the others are our children.
But, this time must be different. Even the students at the school in Parkland started to demand their representatives do something on the very day of the tragedy. If you or loved ones are directly affected by the shootings in Parkland, you get a pass for now. The rest of us must come together to force action.
I am not demanding that a specific solution be implemented. I am demanding that we discuss this problem openly, without special interest interference, with each other and in our state and federal legislatures. We must insist that we fund unrestricted research into the problem. We must be willing to view the problems of gun violence, violence in general, school shootings, mass killings as issues that are complex with many different causes requiring a series of well-designed solutions. We must be willing to experiment with the understanding that some solutions will work better than others but doing nothing is the worst approach.
Join me in expressing your sadness and outrage in the media and social media. I propose using #NowIsTheTime to organize our voices.
