Rachel Brougham: Are thoughts and prayers the best we can do?
You know the drill.
Tragedy strikes. There’s been another mass shooting. Several people die in another instance of gun violence. And we fall into our routine.
We say to ourselves, "Oh, it’s just so horrible." We wonder why it keeps happening. Then, like clockwork, we offer our thoughts and prayers and move on with our lives.
Rinse and repeat.
We think to ourselves, Well, I did my part. It’s all I can do.
But is it? Are thoughts and prayers really all we can do when it comes to gun violence in America?
Look at any poll regarding guns in this country and you’ll find the vast majority of Americans — including most gun owners themselves — want stricter gun laws. Stricter gun laws don’t mean people are going to come to your home, kick down your door and take your guns away. Polling shows the majority of Americans want sensible laws like nationwide background checks, banning those convicted of domestic violence from purchasing a gun and minimum age requirements nationwide.
The problem is, we have a group of lawmakers in this country who seem to be only concerned with a small percentage of the population. When tragedy strikes and Americans ask for laws to make us safer, they say we can’t politicize gun violence. But isn’t gun violence already a political issue?
When the vast majority of Americans want something to change but nothing is changing, that means something is fundamentally broken in our system.
Gun violence is an American problem. We know what to do, it’s not rocket science. Why aren’t we looking at all these other countries where gun violence isn’t such a big problem and asking, “What are they doing that we are not?” I think you know the answer.
Something I’ve asked myself over and over since the slaughter of students at Sandy Hook Elementary happened more than a decade ago: What will it take for lawmakers to make changes? Is there ever too much gun violence for them? Shouldn’t we prioritize the needs of our communities over the desires of a loud minority?
Here’s what I think about when I hear people offer their thoughts and prayers on gun violence and think that’s enough:
Someone in a busy restaurant starts choking. Everyone gasps and offers their thoughts and prayers. Medical personnel show up to help the person chocking. But we all say, “Oh no, we’re giving him thoughts and prayers.” We prevent medics from saving the person.
The person ends up passing away and we say to ourselves, “Well, we offered thoughts and prayers. What else could we have done?”
Thoughts and prayers are great. I’m all for thoughts and prayers. But thoughts and prayers also require action. And right now we aren’t taking any action so nothing is going to change.
— Rachel Brougham is the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review. You can email her at racheldbrougham@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Rachel Brougham: Are thoughts and prayers the best we can do?
