I’m tired of CNN news updates on my phone.
I’m tired of political rants on Facebook.
I’m tired of congressional languish.
I’m tired of the pain this country sees.
I’m tired of being tired.
On Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, two suspects stormed an office building and started shooting. Fourteen people lost their lives that day. Seventeen more people were wounded. Fourteen people who got up to go to work will not come home for the holidays this year.
On Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, a man held himself up within a Planned Parenthood center and murdered two civilians and one police officer. At the end of the day, three people were dead and nine more were left wounded. That’s three more people who will forever leave an empty seat at their dinner table.
On Friday, June 17, 2015, a 21-year-old kid entered the halls of a church in my city and executed nine people in cold blood. Men and women, some young, some very old. Those are nine more people who will not be celebrating Christmas in that church.
Guys, I’m tired of this.
The daily violence of mass shootings in America must come to an end. Yes. Daily violence. A mass shooting in America takes places every single day. The Washington Post has compiled a calendar of 2015 so far, and the number of mass shootings that occur on each date is shocking.
The calendar defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people, including the gunman, are killed or injured. On this calendar, there are days were five mass shootings took place. There shouldn’t be five mass shootings in an entire year.
If we count these numbers, if we total all the people who are now just statistics, we find that there have been 351 mass shootings this year alone. That number has already surpassed the numbers for 2014 and 2013.
I have always been an advocate for gun rights in America, but I believe if we do not do something within our nation soon, our twisted sympathy cycle will just keep spinning. The media's sympathy cycle is not the only cycle spinning within the sphere of gun violence. A greater cycle is set in place with every single shooting that we do not begin to register. Mass shootings are incited by other mass shootings.
According to the Associated Press, the FBI processed a record number of background checks for the purchase of firearms on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, the same day as the Colorado Springs shooting. This number was 185,345. Now, I am well aware that this was also Black Friday and I may agree that we could write that off as the cause in such high gun sales, but let's look at the last time gun sales broke records.
The last record set for background checks on firearms in a day was set on Dec. 21, 2012, one week after 20 children and six adults were murdered within the walls of an elementary school.
In school we are taught that we are to fill our days with random acts of kindness and now all we see are random acts of violence. This is happening daily and shows no signs of stopping. I have always supported one’s right to own a firearm, but I’m not sure how many more deaths I can see run across the screen of my phone before we find a solution.
This is not a time to hold a political grudge simply because of another man’s views on gay rights, tax spending, or minimum wage. This is not a Republican or Democrat problem. This is not a political problem. This is not a conservative or liberal problem.
This is a human problem. This is a humanity problem. This is a neighborly problem. This is a problem that cannot and will not divide us.
I’m tired of pictures of mourners.
I’m tired of red ties and blue ties.
I’m tired of violence.
I’m tired of being tired.
