Whereas, on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 another school shooting occurred in the United States of America, killing 17 innocent people at a high school in Florida;
Whereas, according to state law, background checks are not required in private gun sales in the state of Florida; if a convicted felon, a mentally ill person, or an underage person privately bought a gun, the State of Florida wouldn’t know; and under Florida law, it’s illegal to create a database of gun owners;
Whereas, 24 children are shot every day in the United States;
Whereas, per the American Journal of Medicine, among high-income nations, 91 percent of children younger than 15 who were killed by bullets lived in the United States;
Whereas, Nikolas Cruz viciously murdered 17 people in Florida, though when he was apprehended by the police, he was not shot and killed like Mike Brown in St. Louis, who did not murder anyone, nor did he die via a chokehold like Eric Garner, father of six, who was selling loose cigarettes;
Whereas, by the end of 2017, roughly 3,000 people had been shot in Chicago as compared to Japan, which sees about 10 gun deaths per year;
Whereas, it is estimated that there are anywhere from 270 to 310 million guns in the U.S., enough to put one gun in the hand of every child and adult;
Whereas, Canada has only about 10 million guns;
Whereas, the United States and Yemen, a terrorist-harboring nation, have the highest number of firearms per 100 residents, with the U.S. being number one in this category;
Whereas, the average age of the gunman in mass shootings in the U.S. is 34;
Whereas, the youngest shooter in these mass attacks to date was Andrew Douglas Golden, age 11, who along with Mitchell Scott Johnson, age 13, killed students and teachers as they left Westside Middle School in Arkansas in 1998;
Whereas, the National Rifle Association (NRA), founded in 1871, is one of the most powerful gun-lobbying organizations in the U.S. and has been a major player in politics for quite some time;
Therefore, be it resolved that we are a nation of cowards if we continue to idly sit by and watch our children and everyone else be senselessly murdered. We cannot continue to allow groups like the NRA hold us hostage to its policies, which have been contributing to much chaos in our society. We should fire every congressman who allows themselves to get bullied by the NRA.
In addition, all of our citizens deserve due process when being apprehended by the police. Their fate should not be determined by the color of their skin. I am sure if Nikolas Cruz’s parents had been alive, they would have appreciated not seeing their son shot down by police. I wish countless black mothers had experienced this same courtesy. By no means does this justify any illegal behavior and, in the case of Cruz, mass murder. But, as vile as his behavior, was he still deserves to participate in this democracy and not be tried and executed on the streets.
Be it resolved, that we are united in our fight for true gun reform. These most recent children who lost their lives must not die in vain.Â
Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D., is assistant professor at SLUCare Family Medicine and medical accuracy editor of The St. Louis American. Email yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com.
