Photo Credit: CNN.com
November 5 of 2017, during Sunday morning service, a gunman entered First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs TX, located 40 miles east of San Antonio, and proceeded to shooting over 40 of its members, leaving 26 dead. Among the 26 dead inside the church, ages range from just 18 months old to 77 years old. No names have been released yet, and out of respect to the family, the names won’t be released until the next kin to the victims have been informed.
However, First Baptist Church Pastor Frank Pomeroy has said that his 14-year-old daughter Annabelle Renee Pomeroy is among the deceased. This article will refrain from naming the gunman as this article is not intended to shine any type of light upon the gunman.
According to ABC15, 307 mass shootings have occurred in the US so far in 2017 and yet no action from Congress has taken place. This type of violence also occurs everyday as you are able to see on http://www.gunviolencearchive.org, but we are only made aware of them when the number of deaths add up to more than we can singly count on each of our fingers. It is true that violence will always be occurring, and that there is no sure way to end it. But there are approaches that can be made to help reduce the number of its occurrences.
What will it take for laws to be permanently made and for FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check Systems (NICS) to become stricter? How can we prevent people who have mental health issues from purchasing firearm? How can we prevent mass shootings like the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, the worst mass shooting in US history, and others in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, both in 2012, from happening again? But we cannot only look up to congress and wait for an answer. What is it that we as American citizens can do to help protect our communities starting today. I urge us all, as American citizens to do our part and to speak up for all of these victims. To never forget them, so that we can help to stop the taking of lives gone too soon.
Photo credit: stltoday.com