What Does It Look Like?

 A short while ago on this very spot, I opined about the crisis in our country. I know, that doesn't sound like me, but this was the one in which a six year old brought a gun to school and shot his teacher. There were two points that should be passed along in the wake of this tragedy. Most importantly, twenty-five year old Abigail Zwerner is expected to recover. Secondly, the gun used belonged to the child's mother. 

Don't you feel a wave of relief? The gun was legally purchased, and nobody died. A six year old remains in custody and the scars that were generated by those moments of terror are not going away anytime soon. Not for anyone who witnessed them. Or read about them. Or has to think about their children living in a world where such a thing can happen. The world that doesn't just include a Virginia school in which backpacks are searched on a daily basis. The search did not find the gun the six year old was carrying. Twenty-three years ago, a six year old in Michigan brought a gun to school and killed a classmate. Another six year old. 

A lot of children have died since then by gun violence. Some of it was by the hand of another child. Most of it should have been avoided. Important note: The United States is not currently at war. The idea that any child should be caught in any sort of crossfire is ridiculous in the extreme. 

From this precipice, it's hard to imagine that we could fall still farther. How about a toddler in diapers waddling around outside the apartment in which he should have been carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun. A neighbor called 911 stating that the child was alone and pointing the gun at them. When officers arrived on the scene, the father who was in the apartment insisted that he did not have a gun. Then switched his story a little saying that if there was a gun then it must have been his cousin's because he never brought a gun into his house. 

Again: there is good news. No one was shot, wounded, or killed. It is entirely possible that the toddler in question will go on to forget that this ever happened. Anyone who has seen the footage, or even imagined it, they may never be the same. 

I am not. It was terrible enough to have to insert images of teenagers taking up weapons against their classmates. Incorporating first grade and younger into that vision of what killers look like. 

Babies. 

Yeesh.