News features across the United States scream of gun violence on an all-too-frequent basis. The stereotypical images of gun violence were once gang-related shootouts or drug deals gone wrong. Now they are school shootings. Grocery store shootings. Synagogue shootings. Seemingly safe spaces have become scenes of gun violence. Big cities and small communities are not exempt, and this includes South Bend, Indiana.
Gun violence has become ubiquitous in the United States; when you mention a recent mass shooting, you need to clarify which one. How does our country allow for this? What kind of a country fails to provide the most basic of all needs – security?
It is said that guns don’t kill people. Tell that to the thousands of family members, not only in our community but across the country, that have watched a loved one suffer or have buried a loved one as a result of gun violence. And the worst part is, the ripple effect goes on and on. No one wins.