The Heroes and the Cowards
May 10, 2019 (San Diego) Lori Kaye (60), Riley Howell (21) and Kendrick Castillo (18) did something most of us probably will never do. Partly, because thankfully mass shootings are not that common. They stepped in the way of a mass shooter, disrupting the attack. By their actions they saved lives. How many? It is a good question, but their actions were nothing short of heroic.
One died at the place she went to pray. She went for Izkor, the Jewish Service of remembrance. The other two were killed at a college and a high school. The three of them should be honored and remembered. Their shooters, on the other hand, must be forgotten by the larger society. Their names forever consigned to non-mention by media.
However, there are cowards in this saga. And no, it is not the shooters. It is the United States Congress and State legislatures across the country. It is the National Rifle Association, that has distorted the Second Amendment into a political tool of division. Normal countries and we are not, do not allow for the mass collection of weapons. In case you wonder, thousands were confiscated in Los Angeles just the other day. And if the person was not selling them, likely that arsenal is quite legal.
Guns kill thousands of Americans every year. It is not just the now regular mass shooting, but it is suicide, This is to the tune of 22,000 suicides…