Recently, my company sent out a statewide alert that we had received a non-specific shooter threat toward our offices, and had to lock them down. This is at least the second time my office has been locked down in the past two years, and thankfully the threat did not materialize.
However, who knows how serious a threat will be next time? How close will an active shooter get to our office next time? I’m certain there will be a next time, with mass shootings becoming a more-than-daily occurrence. It’s no longer a matter of if, but when.
We are at a tipping point with gun violence in this country, and inaction has gotten us nowhere. We have to do something, and it needs to happen now. Arguments about how criminals don’t respect laws are nonsensical; why are drugs illegal, then, if criminals will still find a way to access and abuse them?
I’m afraid to bring children into this world. I’m afraid of being gunned down when I’m at work. I’m afraid, constantly, and rather than learning to live with the fear, I’d rather we lived in a world that dealt more effectively with the threat itself.
Mandatory background checks for all purchases, as a start, is a positive step that has near-universal approval. We can do that, we can do more, and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to take this seriously.
