There are no words.
Over the next few days, writers, journalists and newscasters will be playing one-string fiddles, bringing updates about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But it will all just be white noise. Their talk will merely be commentary. Because there are no words. Not for this.
There are no words to explain why an 18-year-old opened fire in Robb Elementary shortly after allegedly killing his grandmother.
No words can accurately report the killing of 19 grade-schoolers and 2 adults, including fourth-grade teacher Eva Mireles. There are no words expressing why the flag is flying at half staff over the White House tonight.
Twenty-three years ago, I remember being struck dumb in much the same way.
I was in our church fellowship hall. The TV was playing in the corner. Our youth group had just finished setting up folding chairs for an upcoming wedding because our youth group was nothing but a glorified posse of janitors.
The primetime news was on. It was a Tuesday.
“Everybody shut up,” said someone’s mom, who stood before the television, chewing on her thumbnail.
We gathered around the screen and watched in rapt horror. The text on the TV read: “FIFTEEN DEAD IN SHOOTING.” The news reporter called it the “Massacre in Columbine, Colorado.”
Massacre.
I remember seeing footage of Patrick Ireland, 17, being pulled out a window by police officers clad in body armor. I remember hearing that Columbine’s two killers had selected minorities, jocks, and Christians for their victims.
I will forever remember Cassie Bernall, 17; Stephen Curnow, 14; Corey DePooter, 17; Kelly Fleming, 16; Matthew Ketcher, 16; Daniel Mauser, 15; Daniel Rohrbough, 15; Dave Sanders, 47; Rachel Scott, 17; Isaiah Shoels, 18; John Tomlin, 16; Lauren Townsend, 18; and Kyle Velasquez, 16.
I remember hearing about Valeen Schnurr. She had been shot and was crawling on the floor of the library, covered in her own blood. She was begging God not to let her die when her aggressor approached her.
“God?” he said. “Do you believe in God?”
She answered yes. The shooter reloaded. She suffered 34 separate wounds, and underwent multiple surgeries but did not die. I remember her.
I also remember the prayer vigils held at our church. I remember how people blamed video games, goth culture, TV violence, the movie “The Matrix,” Marilyn Manson, and paintball.
I remember the reports of copycat shootings that later peppered the news. I remember when local school districts closed for fear that something like Columbine would happen to us.
Yes, I remember.
Just like I remember the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the incident.
It was the day of my mother’s birthday party. We were having a belated get together at Pepito’s Mexican Restaurant, home of the kiddie-pool-sized margarita.
I arrived early. I was sitting at the bar, waiting for my mother. A three-man mariachi band was playing. The bar was adorned with cheap Christmas decor.
The news on the television overhead showed footage from Sandy Hook and everyone stopped talking. The mariachi band quit playing. The bartender turned it up.
“You hear what happened in Connecticut today?” someone remarked.
“Sssshhh!” said another.
Diane Sawyer was on the screen, standing in front of Newtown, Connecticut, United Methodist Church.
I remember hearing replays of the 911 call recordings. I remember the footage of the school library. Most of all, I remember the interviews with grade-school children who witnessed the attacks.
A first-grader who was missing her two front teeth spoke to the camera and broke your heart.
“There was all this racket in our classroom and we were all so scared…”
I remember Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Rachel D’Avino, 29; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay, 7; Dylan Hockley, 6; Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung,47; Madeline Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 6; Jesse Lewis, 6; Anne Marquez-Green, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Lauren Rosseau, 30; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto, 27; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; and Allison Wyatt, 6.
And I will always remember today. My wife and I had been visiting Aunt Catherine. The news was playing on television. There were images of armed law enforcement personnel wearing helmets and bulletproof vests, carrying rifles. They were standing outside an elementary school. Emergency vehicles galore. Sirens blaring.
My wife was standing before the TV, chewing on her thumbnail. Without explaining herself, she muted the television, gripped my hands and said she wanted us to pray for the victims’ families.
But when I closed my eyes, there were no words. And try as I may, I still can’t find any.
God bless Uvalde, Texas.
91 comments
BranWick - May 25, 2022 6:48 am
So devastating. So heartbreaking. Please make it stop 😭
Judy B Alexander - May 25, 2022 6:48 am
I remember all of these and more. The first one I remember was the fun man in Texas who climbed a water tower and shot innocents. I was in high school and watched on our black & white TV. I wondered then what could make someone for his with no provocation to innocent people. And every one since then I ask the same question. Mentally ill? You’d have to be. Full of hate and rage. You would have to be. What law can prevent this? None. Not a damn one.
Christine - May 25, 2022 12:26 pm
So true Judy, there are no laws against mentally ill, hate and rage. How can we stop this.
But God …can change the sick soul.
Praying for the heartbroken.
Becky Hankins - May 25, 2022 6:53 am
I can’t sleep. I have five grandchildren ages 1 through 10. I long to leave this world in a better place for them. Cleaner, friendlier, more unified, kinder, more compassionate, more responsible, more determined to help those who are lonely and left out. My time is fading. I beg God to show me, “What can I do? Show me what to do. Show all of us what to do. Let people follow through doing the right things. HELP ALL OF US!” What can America do? What we’ve done or haven’t done isn’t working. We need organized bright, humane, compassionate, apolitical minds to work together on plans for us to improve. My Abigail, Nolan, Drake, Evie Grace and Iris deserve that. Everyone’s children and grandchildren deserve that.
Laura Lemons - May 25, 2022 7:13 am
I agree. I pray that our children change the future! I’m going to ensure that my almost 7 year old grows up to lead this country into a brighter and safer tomorrow! Maybe he can be part of the change we all need. He has purpose as do all the children of this world and they shouldn’t be taken away from this earth in such a violent way.
Laura Lemons - May 25, 2022 7:08 am
I’m gutted. I haven’t slept a wink all night. It’s now 2:05AM and I don’t think I’ll get any sleep tonight. My first grader has 2 more days of school (half days thank God) and then I get a little bit of a bereave from all the worry. We shouldn’t as parents have to worry about our children getting shot at school. We should be worried if they are going to fall and break their arm on the monkey bars, not hiding under their desks trying to not get struck my a bullet. I’m sad for all the parents yesterday who sent their kids to school only to have them be lambs to slaughter. I’m sad for all the parents not able to tuck their kids into bed last night. When will this stop? 💔💔
Phyllis Stallings - May 25, 2022 7:16 am
You’re right! There are NO words for such horror! Maybe as I pray the Lord will help me find words!
PMc - May 25, 2022 7:21 am
Please Lord Have Mercy🙏
Praying for Texas 💔
beachdreamer - May 25, 2022 8:14 am
I, like some of your readers in their comments , can’t sleep. It’s 4:00. I woke up a while back wondering what the parents of those children who left this earth so violently are thinking…what are they doing? I can’t even imagine. What a waste, what evil has befallen this country! It is taking over unless all of us collectively can stand against the enemy, pray to God for strength and commitment to rid our country of such hatred. I pray for less talk from our leaders and more action. I also pray this doesn’t fade into the background as other news comes to take its place…that it doesn’t go into an old file to be taken out and remembered every year. These families will have to get up in the morning and prepare for things they didn’t dream of 24 hours ago…and try to prepare their hearts and minds for their new reality. God bless them in the hours and days ahead. Thank you Sean for your thoughts…always from your heart. ❤️🙏🏻
Jocelyn E Piccone - May 25, 2022 8:23 am
Mental Health issues surround our world. Prayer helps.
Barbara Stone - May 25, 2022 9:16 pm
The United States is not the only country with mental illness, yet there are very rare mass shootings in any other country. Why? Gun control.
Debbie - May 25, 2022 9:33 am
And I remember walking down a hospital hallway to the police officer standing outside my teenaged patient’s room. And walking out of the hospital, past the media with my head down to my car with no comment being uttered. This has to stop.
Anne Arthur - May 25, 2022 1:35 pm
So sorry. Yes, this has to stop.
Barb - May 25, 2022 9:38 am
No words, thank you Sean
Joy jacobs - May 25, 2022 9:57 am
Thanks for this column. Words really can’t express the deep sorrow that accompanies these horrible incidents but your memorial column made a good effort. ❤️
Carol - May 25, 2022 10:03 am
Perhaps, Sean, it’s time for a column about our gun culture — by far the worst in the developed world. When will our children be more valued than our guns?
Kathryn - May 25, 2022 12:26 pm
Exactly
Dean Blackwell - May 25, 2022 10:08 am
And there remains a vast segment of our population – and you know who you are – believe that Columbine, Sandy Hook and now, Uvalde were (are) false flag events. As America unravels, we find it impossible to come together and protect our children from evil. My heart hurts…
Julie Patterson - May 25, 2022 10:12 am
Amen.
Allen - May 25, 2022 11:05 am
😶😢
Chris Davis - May 25, 2022 12:03 pm
Thank you. Whatever I can do as an individual to help fix this I would do it. I pray and I listen to the rhetoric again with no real solutions. Those poor families.
terric - May 25, 2022 12:49 pm
My words are simply prayers that Father God will cover the mothers, and families of these children with His Grace, give them some comfort in their unimaginable grief, and bless that area, and our nation.
Naomi Smith - May 25, 2022 12:07 pm
There are no words. I can’t even form all the questions that are jumbled in my mind. I guess the biggest one is, “What all happens in a young child’s life that takes him from a normal child, as an infant, to one who can commit such heinous acts against people?”
Kathryn - May 25, 2022 12:21 pm
You’re right, Sean, there are no words except WHY? Why is America, home of the brave, the world leader in the unspeakable slaughter of children in their schools? Why? Other countries have mental illnesses, violent movies, video games, social media, but they don’t have school shootings like we do. Why? We all know the answer; too bad we don’t have enough men and women in DC with the courage to do something about it!
Elizabeth, Pittsburgh, PA - May 25, 2022 12:25 pm
So true. No words. I am numb. Not even the world of innocence is immune to evils.
Michelle Bethune - May 25, 2022 12:27 pm
People are in such distress, and have been for a very long while. I don’t have any answers, but I know something has to change. Heartbroken…again.
Bud McLaughlin - May 25, 2022 12:56 pm
I’m tired of “thoughts and prayers”
Linda Hill - May 25, 2022 12:56 pm
I keep beating the same old tired drum. “They” took prayer, the Ten Commandments & Bible teaching out of school – and I suppose kids are expected to develop a moral compass by osmosis? All kids don’t have parents modeling the sort of things once taught at schools. It’s not the NRA’s or anyone else’s fault. Plenty of laws & restrictions on the books already. What’s different today? Pretty sure I know the answer♥️🙏
Ronnie - May 26, 2022 4:26 am
Amen. We know.
Words Mean Things – The Write Side of My Brain - May 25, 2022 1:10 pm
[…] Uvalde, Texas Sean of the South Over the next few days, writers, journalists and newscasters will be playing one-string fiddles, bringing updates about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But it will all just be white noise. Their talk will merely be commentary. Because there are no words. Not for this. Read More. […]
Cindy - May 25, 2022 1:14 pm
This was evil. Nothing is going to stop the evil in man’s heart except the love of Christ. Gun laws, more security, nothing you can think of will stop people from doing evil things. Remember the bombing in Oklahoma with a truck full of fertilizer, the people who drank in Jonestown, selling drugs loaded with fentanyl, mothers who drive vans with their kids into lakes. Sadly there are many more. I know that those children are safe in the arms of Jesus, and if there parents know him, they will see those babies again. I pray for those families, knowing they will never be the same. My heart breaks.
Connie - May 25, 2022 1:15 pm
So true. There are no words to explain these things away. Love and hugs to you and Jamie. And regardless of the comment above regarding thoughts and prayers, I too am praying for the families and our country. Heartbroken, again.
Maggie Priestaf - May 25, 2022 1:24 pm
Thank you, Sean… I named each one aloud so we don’t forget.
Anne Arthur - May 25, 2022 1:31 pm
Still, no words.
Carmen - May 25, 2022 1:35 pm
“We do not know what to pray but the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groaning that cannot be expressed by words.”
Mary Ann Gilbert - May 25, 2022 1:39 pm
Lord, please be with these families and friends. Help us to find a way to change the course we seem to be on, to make our world a safer, more understanding of each other’s plight. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Gordon - May 25, 2022 1:46 pm
I totally agree, Sean. There are no words.
Susan W Fitch - May 25, 2022 1:57 pm
My granddaughter is a second grade teacher, loving her chosen career and her young students. I used to think that schools were relatively safe but they aren’t. My heart is so heavy for the families that have lost their children to these evil shootings. Praying for these families and I do believe that God hears our prayers and knows the suffering. I’m out of words…
Dee d Fritzie - May 25, 2022 2:00 pm
You are right. There are no words — only a hollowness in the heart for everyone. Unsaid attempts at prayer for the families snd this country as a whole.
leesajudd - May 25, 2022 2:05 pm
Thank you Sean, for having such a loving and caring heart. Thank you for using your space to remember, by name, each of the individuals in the previous school shootings. Thank you for putting to words the thought of many of us. Most of all, thank you for being a bright, kind light in our cruel world.
Lauren Lopez - May 25, 2022 2:17 pm
Lord, so much hurt and pain! Just hold them.
Patricia Gibson - May 25, 2022 2:28 pm
God hold them all in the palm of his hand🙏🙏
Ellen Cameron - May 25, 2022 2:30 pm
Thank you Sean for expressing our feelings. There are indeed NO WORDS!!! Two of our GRANDCHILDREN are 10 and just finished 4th grade!!! I can’t imagine!!!! God Bless these precious families!!!
Sandra C Graves - May 25, 2022 2:32 pm
Words don’t fix this horror. Why is prayer the only answer?
Ruth Mitchell - May 25, 2022 2:59 pm
Politicians are elected to find solutions to problems like this. It’s time to hold them accountable, and if they can’t act they need to be replaced. Those lives were lost needlessly!! I am so angry that our country is the only one dealing with this issue. Our children are worth so much more than the protection we are providing!! I cry!! I pray!! And I’ll vote my conscience!!
mollytoddmccgmailcom - May 25, 2022 5:23 pm
I have only one word: VOTE !!!
Susan Beasley - May 25, 2022 3:01 pm
Please remember Westside School In Jonesboro, AR school shooting, Match 24,1998.
Teacher Shannon Wright (32), Stephanie Johnson (12), Natalie Brooks (11), Paige Ann Herring (12) and Brittney Varner (11).
We still feel the pain…
Cathy Moss - May 25, 2022 3:06 pm
As a grandmother of eight and mother of a third grade teacher, I feel sick that once again, innocent children, a devoted teacher and the killers own grandmother lost their lives to someone who obviously was out of his mind. He purchased two automatic guns on his birthday. These are the only words I can find. May God Hear Our Prayers. This madness has to be stopped and that will only happen with God’s help
Laurie Jean Weil - May 25, 2022 3:07 pm
Let photojournalists go into these crime scenes and photograph the carnage. Publish the photographs. Let the complacent American public and the gun supporters in Congress SEE what they are enabling. Photojournalism moved our nation to support the Civil Rights Movement and to end the Vietnam War. It might succeed in stopping these useless, AVOIDABLE massacres.
Lynn - May 25, 2022 3:13 pm
I agree with Linda Hill. We as a nation need to put God and the Ten Commandments back in our schools.
Linda Everett - May 26, 2022 1:54 am
Linda Hill is right! God has been removed from schools, many children do not have loving, caring parents at home to guide them and teach them moral character, the school was a resource to give children stable, caring character and moral compass. Gone are prayers at school, pledging allegiance to our flag, love fir our creator.
B.E. Blue - May 25, 2022 3:13 pm
From an e-mail I sent yesterday during the 6:00 news. “It was tragically ironic that I had just gotten through voting this afternoon and was across the street from an elementary school where the kids were playing outside, yelling excitedly like kids do when they know the school day’s almost over. I just saw the TV footage of kids in Uvalde being rushed across the street under police guard to safety.”
“I don’t have the right words. I probably never will but all of them deserve whatever good our prayers can provide.”
DiAn - May 25, 2022 3:21 pm
Sean – You are Right. No words for this unspeakable horror. Truly a Slaughter of the innocents.
Thank you for writing it all out though.
Puts it in perspective.
Bless you and PLEASE keep on writing. We need to sort out these crazy acts from those that actually DO mean something. – Your column helps to do that. – So – Thank you. – DiAn
Suzanne - May 25, 2022 4:13 pm
All I could do was pray for peace and comfort for everyone. You’re right there are no words. There never will be any words to express horrors such as this.
Peggy M. Windham - May 25, 2022 4:22 pm
So very tragic! I will never be able to comprehend why troubled individuals feel the need to destroy lives along with their own. I’m praying for these families!🙏🙏
Brian - May 25, 2022 4:25 pm
God bless all involved
Claudia - May 25, 2022 4:44 pm
Unfortunately, School shootings have been going on for decades. When is it going to stop? How about parents hold their school administrators accountable for providing Safe Schools. How is it this 18 year old walked into the school in body armor with a rifle and backpack?? Is that a Safe school? I don’t think so. Demand better protection for your children and grandchildren!! This makes me mad to think that after all this time we don’t know how to protect our children.
Phyllis McBride - May 25, 2022 4:48 pm
You are right. There are no words. Our hearts cry out to God because our mouths cannot. Praying from the heart for Uvalde, Texas.
Tegie - May 25, 2022 5:10 pm
There are no words. Only prayers.
Linda Moon - May 25, 2022 5:24 pm
Thank you for your words here, Sean. They comforted me.
Bev - May 25, 2022 5:44 pm
You are correct, there are no words. We need to teach our children (and adults, too!) that we value human life, again. Let’s start there. Guns are not the problem. Our population is no longer sensitive to the value of human life. We have people marching to permit abortion, and now this?? So many are talking out of both sides of their mouths. Please tell me the difference?? Wake up people, this is not the way God wants us to act. We will always remember, but let’s start by teaching our children how important it is to be kind to one another, love always and never hate. Those children had every right to grow up and become something great! Every child should be afforded that opportunity. Their families should not have to be planning their funerals. Their community should not be in mourning. There simply are no words.
Sandy - May 25, 2022 5:46 pm
When is it going to stop Sean. When are the people in Washington going to quit making money off the lives of our children and elderly in church services.
Donna Coen - May 25, 2022 5:58 pm
Thank you, Sean. I have no words more than that right now. God bless and be present for everyone affected by this awful evil act. AMEN and AMEN.
Nancy Gilbert - May 25, 2022 6:09 pm
So true. There are no words…. just a sick, hollow, sad beyond belief feeling……………
Sharon Wichmann - May 25, 2022 6:16 pm
Here are a few words. Do not allow people under 18 to purchase guns. Why should they not be able to buy beer but can purchase a weapon of mass destruction? Also, Require a background check for every person purchasing a gun. Another: Require insurance from the purchasers if the gun is used to kill. Just a beginning.
Cathy Roth - May 25, 2022 6:17 pm
Let’s not forget the first school shooting in San Diego.
On the morning of Monday, January 29, 1979, S- began shooting at children waiting for Principal Burton Wragg (age 53) to open the gates to Grover Cleveland Elementary.[11] She injured eight children, starting with 9 year old Cam Miller as he was wearing Spencer’s favorite color blue. Spencer shot and killed Wragg as he and teacher Daryl Barnes tried to help children. She also killed custodian Mike Suchar (age 56) as he tried to pull a student to safety.[5] A police officer (age 28), responding to a call for assistance during the incident, was wounded in the neck as he arrived.[5] Further casualties were avoided only because the police obstructed her line of fire by moving a garbage truck in front of her house.
I remember at that time I work at my son’s school as a yard duty and ask the principal if we had any plans on dealing with shooting, he said oh this shouldn’t happen again.
Sean, I appreciate your reminding us.
LIN ARNOLD - May 25, 2022 6:30 pm
It makes my heart cry and my soul scream!
Jannie Bryant - May 25, 2022 6:47 pm
Uvalde is 45 miles west of my small town. I know it well, I have driven by the school more than once. I am numb today and leaving work early. There are no words for this horrific tragedy. The ones left behind will never be the same. Please keep these folks in your prayers.
Susie Flick - May 25, 2022 7:01 pm
No words – my heart hurts.
Donna W - May 25, 2022 7:02 pm
I can’t find words either. Just tears off and on all day. Praying for the families of these innocent little children and teachers. The evilness….
CHARALEEN WRIGHT - May 25, 2022 7:10 pm
❤️
Linda Brannon - May 25, 2022 7:23 pm
God Bless You!
William Ledbette Bill - May 25, 2022 7:55 pm
I am saddened to say what everyone seems to want to ignore. The climate of HATE in this country is what is so different. People very recently could have civil conversations about their different opinions on politics, religion, or any other subject. What has changed. Now NO ONE can have a civil conversation about anything they differ on. We have allowed our minds to be shaped by one side or the other of the two main “sides” so we ALL are at fault! We don’t need the government to intervene. That is a big part of the problem! We need each person to take ownership of this awful situation we find ourselves in, and decide to start loving each other, despite our differing opinions! WE can change this situation. We are the only ones who CAN change the situation. We just need to OWN the problem.
LeAnn Ambrose - May 25, 2022 8:26 pm
Amen! May I re-post?
Greg - May 25, 2022 8:57 pm
Yes , there are words…they are “federal gun control”. No other country in the world tolerates this other than the United States. “Thoughts and prayers” have not stopped and will not stop this.
Barbara Stone - May 25, 2022 9:20 pm
YES!
Becky Souders - May 25, 2022 9:23 pm
… and before Columbine, there was Springfield, Oregon…. and probably more. Why won’t our leaders listen ?
Cheryle - May 25, 2022 10:13 pm
I have a word. More than one. I understand what you mean when you said you don’t. Too many do not have the ability to think. Military weapons have no need in the hands of civilians.
MissT - May 25, 2022 10:36 pm
Yes, let’s pray. And let us use our God given intelligence and God given right to vote out those in “government” who refuse to act on sensible gun control laws. I’m sickened by them and their priorities. Would any one of us not give up our right to an assault weapon to spare the life of one 3rd grader? Or one church lady? Or one person just shopping for groceries? Come on people. Yes we can pray but we have to act when God provides a way.
MAM - May 25, 2022 10:40 pm
I’m sorry, but this is NOT about gun control. Guns don’t kill!!! Deranged people using guns kill. He bought the guns legally. He had no record that they know of so far, but he obviously, for whatever reason, was NOT sound of mind. Criminals will never follow the law, so more gun control will just make us all victims!! And Sean, give yourself a break! You did come up with the appropriate words: God Bless Uvalde.
MissT - May 25, 2022 11:30 pm
Yes, there has been hate and mental illness since the beginning of time. Let’s pray for an end to it. But in the mean time let’s take action. We have been given, by God, the intelligence and ability
to elect leaders who are willing to put their own priorities aside (reelection and debt to the NRA) to put into law effective and sensible gun control laws. It’s on us. Don’t just pray about it. DO something about it.
shirlley hill - May 26, 2022 2:32 am
We simply must do something to stop this gun violence – a march on congress is a possibility but changing the minds of the NRA types is pertinent.
Robin - May 26, 2022 4:24 am
Well said Sean!
NancyB. - May 26, 2022 6:00 am
Sean, you wrote a beautiful piece. Thank you. I have so many different trains of thought to comment on here. I hope I am as eloquent as you, but I know I won’t be.
First and foremost is my deepest and most sincere sympathy and heart felt prayers for the families who are forever missing a loved one tonight. They will never be complete again. There will always be an empty chair at the table. They will learn to go on with life, but they will never fill that empty chair.
Also my prayers to all those involved in any way during the incidents yesterday. First responders, survivors, LEOs, hospital personnel, people living near the school, school district, city and state personnel now faced with a myriad of heavy decisions. Everyone of these people plus miltitudes more now have images burned in their memories that will never completely leave. Yes, I’m praying for them.
Third, I am also praying for the shooter’s family and friends. I read he had a girlfriend. She has to be devastated and feeling guilty that she either saw the signs and ignored them or didn’t see the signs so could do nothing. I pray her family is holding her close. I know he shot his grandmother but I’m guessing there are other family members–maybe parents (even if troubled) aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They have to be reeling and guilt laden. They each need our compassion and prayers.
My fourth set of thoughts will not be well received by many. I make no apologies for them. I have yet to see a gun of any type just stand up and commit these horrendous, inexplicable acts of violence. Guns do not kill. They are only the instruments used by seriously flawed individuals who are trying to release their own inner pain in a completely unacceptable way. If the shooter had chosen a knife as his instrument of choice, would their be cries today to stop the sale of knives? (Yes, knives have been the deadly instrument of choice in other mass killing attacks.) If he had waited until the classes were on the playground or students and teachers were exiting the building for students to get on busses or find their parents at the end of the day, would there be a cry and hue to out law the sale of vehicles after the driver crashed into a school yard full of students and teachers? (Yes, vehicles have been the chosen instrument of carnage in group killings in the past.) NO! We would not outlaw knives or vehicles! We wouldn’t think of it because knives and vehicles don’t kill. The persons wielding those instruments would be the killers. We already have laws making killing with any instrumment illegal. We need to use those existing laws as quickly and as strongly as possible when the tragic need arises. We may need laws on strengthening the waiting period, on background checks, on raising the age to legally purchasing a firearem. But we do not need any more laws designed to take guns out of the hands of all citizens. As I said way back at the top when I began, guns do not stand up and kill people. People holding guns. People who use guns as an instrument of killing. They are the reason yesterday happened. PEOPLE not guns.
Can this trend change? Yes, if we all do our part. We ALL need to be more diligent in forming relationships with those around us. Smile as you hold the door for someone. Say hi to the person you meet in an aisle at the store. Speak to the person on the treadmill next to you at the gym. Say please and thank you to the checker in the grocery store. Tell your mechanic you appreciate the job they are doing. If we care, others will care. We need to be aware of those around us and pick up on cues that they are hurting. Can we alleviate some of the hurt or can we steer them to some who can help? We need be be kind to one another and teach our children to be kind also. We MUST not be afraid to say something when we see something that concerns us, no matter how small it may seem at the time. “I DON’T WANT TO GET INVOLVED is no longer acceptable. We all must be involved if change is going to happen.
Susie - May 28, 2022 7:20 pm
Nancy, B, I agree with everything you said and I also agree with stronger laws that already exist. But, that may only stop a few, but every little might help. I psrsonally think Pandora’s box has been opened and I don’t see Jj going back, at this point, anyway. There is too much hate being encouraged by certain people in the public eye and social media is doing nothing about it that I can see. So sad for our country and our young people coming up. I just hope there many adults trying their best to lead them down but too much hate continues to be seen. Putin, I’m sure is still salivating over what the last guy in the whitehouse did in wrecking this country, spreading devisiveness, lies and hate all over the place. What a wicked man he is. Too bad more people cannot see him for what he is. A total con man, trying to gaslight more and more of us all the time. People who believe this 🤡, YOU ARE HIS MARK! 😩😪
Susie - May 28, 2022 7:24 pm
That last post was supposed to say “adults trying their best to lead them down the good path”….
Darlene Rose - May 26, 2022 7:00 am
A little child shall lead them! ❤️
sswann4083 - May 27, 2022 11:07 am
As a parent, I watched kids falling out of windows at Columbine. I remember the interview of the African American father and white young man who held hands and Katie Couric didn’t let the cameras stop for a commercial. I remember the disbelief and horror along with a panic of “what if it happened to my kids”. Over twenty years later, this horror is being reenacted over and over.
Susie - May 28, 2022 7:04 pm
Sswann4083, the horror is happening again and again because the “supposed” adults in the room,aren’t REALLY adults (congress) and have absolutely no souls.
Leesa Wimberley - May 30, 2022 12:08 pm
Love Your Children More Than Your Guns
Robert Chiles - June 26, 2022 11:45 pm
This will keep happening over and over and over until we elect representatives who are not bought and paid for by the gun lobby.