Mass Shootings Reports
On October 1, 2017 Las Vegas Mass Murder reported 59 killed and 441 wounded.
From October 1, 2017 there were 24 deaths by shooting reported across the US and approximately 93 wounded during those murders.
From November 3 through the 4th there were 2 deaths by shooting across the US reported and approximately 28 wounded.
November 5, 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas 26 dead and 20 reported wounded at the Sutherland Springs Baptist Church.
The Year 2017 to Date (reported)
52,374 – Total Number of Gun Violence Incidents as of November 5, 2017
13,142 – Number of Deaths
26,934 – Number of Injuries
Nick Wagner/AP Nov 5, 2017
20 States – 31 Cities over period of 36 Days
Lanett, Alabama
Casa Grande, and Phoenix, Arizona (2 incidents),
Clearlake Oaks, Gardena, San Francisco (2 incidents), Santa Monica, and Aliso Viejo, California
Hartford, Connecticut
Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville, Florida
Chicago, Illinois
Hammond, Indiana
Lawrence, Kansas
Louisville, Kentucky
Lacombe, Louisiana
Edgewood, Maryland
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Meridian, Mississippi
Brooklyn, and New York Buffalo, New York
Youngstown, Pedro, and Toledo, Ohio
Chester, Pennsylvania
Nashville, Tennessee
Austin (2 incidents), Houston (2 incidents), and Sutherland Springs, Texas Petersburg, Virginia
(Source: Gun Violence Archive – http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/)
Each person murdered or wounded has a family.
Period.
Think on them.
Let us remember the families and loved ones of those who have died from gun violence. We acknowledge their pain and their deep grief. They too, are part of our community, and need our love and help towards healing.
God of life,
Every act of violence in our world, in our communities, between myself and others, destroys a part of your creation.
Stir in my heart a renewed sense of reverence for all life.
Give me the vision to recognize your spirit in every human being, however they
behave towards me.
Make possible the impossible by cultivating in me the fertile seed of healing
love.
May I play my part in breaking the cycle of violence by realizing that peace
begins with me.
The Fever of the Gun
Hot .. The Fever
Forever Molten..
Forever Voiceless
Just a Weapon
Of the Hopeless.
My Children’s Children’s Children
At the Mercy
And .. The Fever of the Gun.
omar2016
Our hearts go out to the victims and to those who are driven to oommit such acts.
There are 30,000 gun related deaths per year by firearms, and this number is not disputed. The U.S. population is 324,059,091 as of June 22, 2016. Do the math: 0.000000925% of the population dies from gun related actions each year. Statistically speaking, this is insignificant! What is never told, however, is a breakdown of those 30,000 deaths, to put them in perspective as compared to other causes of death:
• 65% of those deaths are by suicide, which would never be prevented by gun laws.
• 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty and justified.
• 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related or mentally ill persons – better known as gun violence.
• 3% are accidental discharge deaths.
So technically, “gun violence” is not 30,000 annually, but drops to 5,100. Still too many? Now lets look at how those deaths spanned across the nation.
• 480 homicides (9.4%) were in Chicago
• 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore
• 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit
• 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington D.C. (a 54% increase over prior years)
So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just 4 cities. All 4 of those cities have strict gun laws, so it is not the lack of law that is the root cause.
This basically leaves 3,825 for the entire rest of the nation, or about 75 deaths per state. That is an average because some States have much higher rates than others. For example, California had 1,169 and Alabama had 1.
Now, who has the strictest gun laws by far? California, of course, but understand, it is not guns causing this. It is a crime rate spawned by the number of criminal persons residing in those cities and states. So if all cities and states are not created equal, then there must be something other than the tool causing the gun deaths.
Are 5,100 deaths per year horrific? How about in comparison to other deaths? All death is sad and especially so when it is in the commission of a crime but that is the nature of crime. Robbery, death, rape, assault are all done by criminals. It is ludicrous to think that criminals will obey laws. That is why they are called criminals.
But what about other deaths each year?
• 40,000+ die from a drug overdose–THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT!
• 36,000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths.
• 34,000 people die per year in traffic fatalities(exceeding gun deaths even if you include suicide).
Now it gets good:
• 200,000+ people die each year (and growing) from preventable medical errors. You are safer walking in the worst areas of Chicago than you are when you are in a hospital!
• 710,000 people die per year from heart disease. It’s time to stop the double cheeseburgers! So what is the point? If the liberal loons and the anti-gun movement focused their attention on heart disease, even a 10% decrease in cardiac deaths would save twice the number of lives annually of all gun-related deaths (including suicide, law enforcement, etc.). A 10% reduction in medical errors would be 66% of the total number of gun deaths or 4 times the number of criminal homicides ……………. Simple, easily preventable 10% reductions! So you have to ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, why the focus on guns? It’s pretty simple:
Taking away guns gives control to governments. The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did by trying to disarm the populace of the colonies. It is not difficult to understand that a disarmed populace is a controlled populace.
Thus, the second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the U.S. Constitution. It must be preserved at all costs. So the next time someone tries to tell you that gun control is about saving lives, look at these facts and remember these words from Noah Webster: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed.”
I do not believe I mentioned even once taking away Americans guns or any amendments. No this is my afternoon liturgy and reflection. Do you have a reflection on present results from gun violence to share that would be more helpful than merely making the point about protecting folks rights to own guns? Again that “right” does not enter into my prayers-thoughts-poems about what is happening. Peace and Grace