Is anywhere safe?

Look, I hate to even bring this topic up because it is pretty damn sad that this is a common occurrence, but this is the world we live in...

You hear about it on the news and social media, but in reality, more shootings happen than we even hear or read about. Not every shooting makes it to the public eye and it seems only the "really bad ones" with multiple casualties are the ones that get talked about. More and more they are happening in public places that previously seemed so "safe". Malls, schools, concerts, movie theaters, churches and parades just to name a few.

According to a Washington Post article from June 2nd and then updated on July 5th, "Mass shootings, where four or more people — not including the shooter — are injured or killed, have averaged more than one per day so far this year. Not a single week in 2022 has passed without at least four mass shootings." The headline of the article was: There have been over 300 mass shootings so far in 2022 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/02/mass-shootings-in-2022/) This statistic is hard to wrap my head around.

As with a few of my prior posts, I want to give a disclaimer. The purpose of this blog post is not to debate gun laws. It is to bring to light that although we can't live in fear, safety is something that I think about often. I want to put it out there that I have taken gun safety courses, I have been to gun ranges and we also own two guns that we keep in our home. I am all for self-defense and being prepared should you ever be put in a situation that requires you to protect your home and/or your family. What I don't feel is necessary, is for individuals to be able to buy assault rifles so easily, but that is just my personal opinion. I realize there are plenty of weapons to choose from, but it's currently too easy for the wrong people to get their hands on something that can cause so much carnage.

Parents want to protect their children from harm, but unfortunately it isn't always possible and can be outside of their control. When I was a young kid in school, we practiced fire drills and tornado drills and those were scary enough (because I am a total wuss and still to this day HATE storms!). I can not even imagine as a child having to go through active shooter drills and practicing what I would do if my classroom had to be locked down because of this. I have seen parents post on social media that there are backpacks specifically made to be bulletproof, and that makes me absolutely sick that such a product had to be designed.

So what can parents do? They can't keep their kids in bubbles and certainly not everyone has the time or means to homeschool. On top of worrying about what could happen at school, you have to keep your head on a swivel at every single public event you go to and have an "escape plan" in mind in case a shooter would happen to be there. This doesn't just apply to people that have kids. Darren and I go to a lot of public venues including concerts and sporting events and every single time the thought crosses my mind, "what if someone starts shooting?"

Sad...

It is sad that almost anywhere can become a prime place for a mass shooting. It is sad that one minute you can be carefree enjoying life and within seconds your whole world can be turned upside down due to something so senseless. It is sad that there are parents that have had to bury their children well before they should have had to even consider such a tragic ending for such a young life.

Every time that I hear about something like this happening, I think to myself, "I am so glad that I don't have kids that I have to worry about". I wish that those thoughts didn't have to come to mind. I don't want situations like Sandy Hook and Uvalde to be the norm. I don't want parents wondering if their kid will make it home safe from school. I don't want families feeling like they can't go to a 4th of July parade in their city. I don't want to see headlines plastered on the internet or news about yet another shooting that has taken innocent lives of those that happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I wish that the "thoughts and prayers" posted each time something like this happened would solve the problem, but it doesn't. I don't have the answers on how to go about solving this, but I do know that what is currently being done isn't fixing the problem.

-Holly