Columns

I am saddened at the killing of 12 people in Virginia Beach by a disgruntled government employee who later died after a shootout with police.  

When asked about the shootings, Senator and presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) responded, “It’s not just mass shootings,” she said, adding that each day in America, gun violence occurs “on sidewalks and playgrounds and people’s backyards. It’s happening family by family across the country. And it doesn’t get the same headlines. And that is wrong.” 

Consider that nearly 40,000 people died in the U.S. from guns in 2017, the highest in 50 years. In response, there has been no major gun-control legislation in the nearly six years since Sandy Hook. In fact, in the years following Sandy Hook, more states loosened gun buying restrictions than tightened them. 

In addition to the usual thoughts and prayers, the U.S. Senate should at least begin addressing gun violence in the U.S. by taking up two gun control bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The first calls for universal background checks on all firearms purchases. The second would extend the review period for a background check from three to ten days.  

Unless Congress acts after this latest incident, we will just have to grit our teeth and wait for the next shooting that will come as surely as night follows day.