Memorial Day has been observed for 154 years. Today is the day we mourn all the armed forces who have died while serving our country. It is a day of reflection and has become a day of kicking off the start of summer with a three-day weekend, BBQs, and friends and family gatherings.
This year, we should mourn and memorialize those killed by gun violence. There have been 214 mass shootings in the first 145 days of 2022, which means more than four people were shot in an incident. In 2020, half of the killings were from suicide.
Death by firearms is a fixture in America. Firearms, not muskets, have become part of our culture. Americans own more guns by a long stretch than other countries—roughly 120 firearms per 100 people.
The data is relatively straightforward, as it always is. The problem is guns, period. Buying a gun, particularly a semi-automatic assault rifle, shouldn’t be as easy as buying a six-pack of beer. Stricter gun laws are the only hope.
We should all be asking ourselves, is this the country we want to live in? Let’s spend this Memorial Day thinking about all the innocent children who will never have a chance to live a full life because of the state of gun laws in our country. It is time for a change.