Carnage. Less than a week ago, Orlando. Nearly six months ago, Denver. One year ago, Charleston. And the list goes on and on and on. Just since Orlando, guns have killed 125 people in America. As four- star General Stanley McChrystal writes in the New York Times in "Home Should Not Be A War Zone":
In 2014, 33,599 Americans died from a gunshot wound. From 2001 to 2010, 119,246 Americans were murdered with guns, 18 times all American combat deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That is a national crisis. And as a combat veteran and proud American, I believe we need a national response to the gun violence that threatens so many of our communities.With the assassination of British MP Jo Cox two days ago, gun violence has reared up in an unlikely place, perpetrated by an unhinged right- winger. It seems we're faced with constant, often brutal reminders of how fragile life is and why, as Gen. McChrystal says, "home should not be a war zone." We say "home" should mean not only America, but Europe, Syria, and every continent and country where human beings should have every right to live a full life free of this kind of mindless violence.
In America, where the problem of gun violence is most acute and our political system is best at offering "thoughts and prayers" in response, here are a few suggested resources for citizen action to help stop gun violence and the cancerous evil represented by the National
Resources: Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Gen. McChrystal's Americans for Responsible Solutions, and the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.
For all those casualties-- those flowers cut before their time -- we offer this classic anti- war song performed by the Kingston Trio as our rather inadequate memorial.
