They Went to the Grocery Store

They went to the grocery store. 

And now they are dead.

Imagine going to pick up some groceries or a prescription from the store where you shop on a regular basis. Or perhaps you work in the grocery store. It was an ordinary Monday afternoon. Suddenly the sounds of shoppers talking and pushing shopping carts were interrupted by the sounds of shots from a semi-automatic weapon. People screamed as they ran for safety or searched frantically for a place to hide.

For nine shoppers and the first police officer to arrive on scene, this ordinary scene quickly turned fatal. Last week's mass killing of eight people in Atlanta also happened on an ordinary day, with people going about their business until they were murdered by a gun-toting killer.

These people survived the pandemic. I’m sure they, like the rest of us, were looking forward to returning to some semblance of normalcy in their lives. But this latest mass murder is, sadly, the state of America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. We are safe nowhere -- not at the movies, not at the grocery store, not at an outdoor concert, not at work, not at school, not at church. There is no place in this country where ordinary citizens are safe from killers armed with semi-automatic weapons whose sole purpose is to kill lots of people.

The weapon of choice in America's mass killings? The AR-15, a weapon designed not to defend onsself, one's home and one's family. No, this weapon is designed to fire up to 45 rounds/minute, making it the perfect weapon for killing lots of people in a short period of time.

The killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 brought no changes in gun laws. And nothing has been done following any of the numerous mass killings in this country since then. Members of Congress are more worried about alienating gun owners and the National Rifle Association than in doing the right thing. And despite cries of "The Democrats want to take our guns", nobody has tried to take away guns from legal, law-abiding gun owners. Even the most sensible, rational attempts to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill are met with fierce opposition.

So the question is, What can and will be done to stop Americans' obsession with guns? People do not need semi-automatic weapons to defend themselves or to go hunting. The Second  Amendment should not be more important than Americans’ right to live their lives in peace and safety without having to worry about being gunned down when they go to school, to the mall or grocery shopping.

The shootings in our country are not the result of drug cartels battling for turf. They are not the result of an oppressive government trying to quell protesters seeking democracy. They are the result of unfettered access to firearms. Other countries don’t have this problem. Why can America not figure out a way to stop or at least slow this murder? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that on average 109 Americans lose their lives each and every day to gun violence. This is not acceptable. 

I don’t have an answer to this problem. It will take brighter minds than mine, and a group willingness to effect change, before things will get better. Contact your senators and representatives and demand meaningful change. This should not be an all-or-none issue. If, as has always happened after mass killings, we allow our legislators to do nothing, the slaughter will continue.