How Many Deaths Will It Take Till We Know That Too Many People Have Died

 March 24th, 2021

My Dear America:

Bob Dylan asked the question many decades Ago in his song "Blowin In The Wind."

Unfortunately we are still asking the same question: "How Many Deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died."

We have had over a year of intolerable deaths due to Covid 19 and Donald Trump's lack of response to it.  Trump told us just hang on and in the Springtime or Summer it will just go away. It didn't. Clearly Trump didn't want us thinking about Covid 19 because we might blame him for the deaths that occurred from it and not vote for him.  So he ignored Covid and Americans died in astonishing numbers.  

We Democrats won an important victory in November 2020 when Joe Biden was elected by a considerable margin.  Once Biden was inaugurated Gentleman Joe has done what Donald Trump should have done in the first place and faced up to the Pandemic Straight on.  Biden has hit the ground running and very quickly set up a plan that is working to get Americans Inoculated As soon as possible.  Already deaths from Covid 19 are finally decreasing as a result of the Covid Vaccinations.  

I've already gotten my two shots of the Pfizer Vaccine and my wife will get her second shot tomorrow on March 25th thanks to Joe Biden doing the right thing.

It is going to take awhile until we can feel safe in America from the Deadly Ravages of Covid but we are finally on our way back to health thanks to Government setting up a workable plan and following through on that plan.

Unfortunately Government has yet to come up with a solid bipartisan solution to another deadly epidemic that has caused so many of us to lose our lives in America. 

That epidemic is Gun Violence in America.

Within the space of a week we have seen 18 people killed in two mass shootings.  One in Atlanta Georgia where 8 people lost their lives and One in Boulder, Colorado where 10 more people lost their lives.

The shame of it all is that unfortunately we Americans have become numb to the continuing violence that we have seen over and over in these mass shootings and as we see the death counts get higher these shootings seem to bother us less and less.  

How many of these shootings have we seen at this point.  Hundreds of them. Thousands of innocent victims have lost their lives.  For what.

When Republicans were in charge of the Senate they seemed to have plenty of "Thoughts and Prayers" but offered very little in the way of solutions to the problems of gun violence.  Republicans, with the aid of Republican Leaning media outlets, seemed to be more concerned about the health of the NRA (National Rifle Association) than the health and the lives of American Citizens.

Clearly something is wrong in America when the lives of American Citizens seem to mean so little to Politicians.  Its just a fact of life in America the Republicans and the NRA seem to tell us over and over again.

The Democrats are trying to take your guns away the Republicans, The NRA and Fox news all tell us.

And it is true to some extent that Democrats are indeed trying to take away Some Guns Away from Some People but they are Not Trying To Take All Guns Away from All People in America.

It is time for Senator Joe Mansion to realize that the time for Sensible Gun Legislation is now.  After the devastating Sandy Hook massacre of toddlers in Connecticut Mansion, along with Pennsylvania Republican Senator, Pat Toomey, sponsored a bill together that would not have done a lot to curb gun violence but it would have done Something.  Unfortunately even that rather limited bill didn't pass through the Republican Senate and the gun violence and mass shootings have continued.

Sandy Hook, Parkland, Aurora, Columbine, Miami, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and now Atlanta and Boulder.  The list of Mass Shootings seems endless and two in one week should be a wake up call to all of us that it is time to end this monstrous problem, or at least do what we can to curb the violence and reduce the death toll.  

The truth is that in America it is going to be almost impossible to completely eliminate mass shootings because Americans do not want to give up their guns, nor should they.  

Clearly we should take a look at and take a lesson from other countries all over the world who do not seem to have the same problems with guns and mass shootings that we do.  Many counties such as the United Kingdom do not allow gun possession and have virtually no shootings. 

Although I am not one of them, I do have friends who derive enjoyment from going out into the woods and killing animals.  I don't like the fact that they do it but I still think that under the Second Amendment of the Constitution Americans should have a Legitimate right to own and  responsibly use a gun.

I also think, however, that there is not a legitimate reason in hell for anyone who is not a Police Officer or a Legitimate Member of the United States Armed Services to own or carry an AR 15 or AK 47 or a weapon like these in the United States of America.  They should be banned from sale to the General Public Now.  They were banned for some time thanks to Senator Joe Biden helping to push the ban through.  It is time for President Biden to work toward getting that ban back in place for our safety and the safety of our neighbors.  When that ban was in place America was safer.  Our country needs to be safer again. 

It is time for Senators Joe Mansion and Pat Toomey to get together once again to help get Responsible Gun Legislation passed.  Now that the Democrats control the Senate they should push for responsible gun legislation.  Even if the legislation fails at least Americans will find out which party and which Senators really care about their health.

Certainly Mental Health is another issue that is a factor in gun violence.  There are very few gun massacres carried out by individuals who are thought to be mentally stable.  For the most part, mass killers are almost to a man (There are very few women Assassins)  Anti Social Loners with few or no friends who might get picked on by others.  In other words they are people who need help and in many cases don't get it.

Lastly, when are we going to realize that registering the sale of guns is something  that could be a very positive thing.  Even most members of the NRA agree with that.  Background checks can and more than likely have prevented some people with problems from purchasing a gun and therefore might have prevented some mass shootings from occurring.

I have had two guns in my house for several decades which I have never fired.  I have no plans to fire them and if I am lucky I will never fire them.  But I do believe that the second amendment gives me and most Americans the right to bear arms Responsibly.

I am not now and never will be a member of the National Rifle Association but I and Joe Biden and most Democrats will continue to support the legitimate right of Americans to own and use guns Responsibly.

No, Ted Cruz, Democrats are not looking to take away all American Guns from all Americans.  We just want guns used responsibly.  What the hell is wrong with that.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher