At last week’s Super Bowl victory rally in Kansas City, we had stopped near Union Station for a few moments and contemplated waiting to see if some of the Chiefs players would be coming that direction.
However, we decided we were ready to move on.
Just a few minutes, later gunfire erupted near that spot. Looking back, that simple decision may have been a lifesaving choice.
Just luck, I guess.
I actually felt pretty calm during Wednesday’s tragedy, as none of our children had accompanied us. As my husband and I were being escorted by law enforcement from one spot to another to elude the shooters, with officers rushing past us with military-grade weapons, I kept thinking how glad I was that none of our kids were there.
Another lucky break.
I started to think how this was actually my family’s second brush with the direct effects of gun violence in less than two years. In March 2022, I found myself anxiously waiting outside my son’s high school after an active shooting incident. While a student, an administrator and a school resource officer were injured, my son was down the hall and was able to avoid the incident.
What a stroke of luck.
On Wednesday, once the area was deemed secured and we were released, we were directed out of the building and saw images that are hard to shake: young children with tear-stained faces and some very young individuals being loaded onto stretchers and into ambulances.
This is the reality of life in America — a country where you only ever need half a flagpole.
It’s a place where we’ve decided luck should play as great a role in keeping us safe versus commonsense solutions. In a country with nearly unfettered access to firearms, carnage and destruction are a frequent result.
Our stats in this regard tell the story:
• The U.S. gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than that of other high income countries.
• Firearms are the leading cause of death for children.
• So far this year, there have been more mass shootings than days.
Kansas and Missouri rank 37th and 38th respectively in strength of gun safety policies, and there were numerous Kansas and Missouri lawmakers in attendance at the Wednesday rally.
So, what was the response of our states’ legislative leaders?
It appears there were no calls to action to reduce gun violence by leadership (which is GOP-controlled in both states).