Several Mondays ago, we learned of 10 mass shootings over the previous weekend. It’s hard to say whether that was an extraordinary weekend, or just more than the usual amount of media coverage of our commonplace carnage.
It was the same Monday that the Proud Boys were indicted for seditious conspiracy, including assembling quite an arsenal for their “quick reaction force” to stop the peaceful transfer of power to an elected U.S. president on Jan. 6, 2021. We wonder how many military assault rifles they had in stock.
It was also a Monday when parents in Uvalde, Texas were burying their children, many of whom were murdered with a weapon so destructive their bodies had to be identified by matching it with their parents’ DNA.
“It is impossible to understand at all,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. “This is a tragedy. And we live in a terrible time when Americans express condolences to Ukrainians over the deaths in war. And Ukrainians express condolences to Americans over the deaths in peace.”
March for Our Lives events all over the country have called for reform of national gun laws, including banning or age-restricting military assault weapons, universal background checks and red flag laws.
Strong citizen majorities support these ideas. At moments like this, we wish our nation had what our state has: the ability to pass initiatives from the people.
Washington voters have passed three of them related to guns. We’ve also elected legislative majorities that have passed more laws, including a prohibition on high-capacity magazines and establishment of an Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention. Our state also funds community violence prevention and intervention programs.
But many Washington voters are frustrated about what we can do at the national level. Both of our senators — Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell — are already in favor of gun control legislation. Both are also supportive of more investment in mental health care, school counselors and anti-racist and anti-poverty measures that would reduce the conditions that promote violence.
It may help to reach outside our own state. Some people send postcards to voters in other states to urge them to support candidates who could strengthen the ranks of gun legislation advocates. There is evidence that such measures are effective at improving voter turnout.
Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
But in this grisly situation we think it will take a much larger group — millions and millions of thoughtful, committed citizens who never give up — to stop our epidemic of gun violence and address all its underlying causes.
