What Good is Compassion If...?

by Lori Haas

(Lori Haas' daughter was shot at Virginia Tech. She is now an activist working to prevent gun violence in Virginia and beyond. - promoted by lowkell) Friday morning America woke up to the news of another tragedy -- another disturbed young man purchased military grade weapons of mass destruction, went into a crowded movie theater, injured dozens and killed twelve innocent Americans. Seventy plus families have been plunged into the painful abyss gun violence leaves behind.  Sadly, no one is surprised.  We no longer live in a civilized society if anyone can walk into a sporting goods shop and buy an AR15 and amass thousands of rounds of ammunition including 100 round clips in order to kill fellow human beings.   While the investigation continues, will anyone be surprised to learn that this man is mentally disturbed, as many assume he is? In the last ten years, we have lost approximately 6,000 soldiers in war - a devastating number. In that same time period, 300,000 American citizens have been killed by guns right here at home. As Jesse Jackson pointed out on Friday, 50 times more American citizens died from guns here on American soil than our self sacrificing soldiers at war! Americans do not lack compassion and are of course upset by the events in Aurora. But what good is this compassion if we allow these massacres to continue, not to mention the daily death toll (32 per day) that our lax gun laws force on our communities. Compassion serves no purpose if we allow our lawmakers to do nothing time and time again despite the never ending mass shootings that occur in this country. Our representatives have been corrupted to the point of ignoring their convictions and the reality of the catastrophe happening every day in America. The easy access of firearms, not to mention the types of firepower available is the issue staring them in the face every day yet they do nothing. When we continue to elect them without demanding they do all they can to save innocent American lives, we all have blood on our hands.