Recently, there was a chilling comment on the morning news. The city of Uvalde, Texas, scene of yet another mass shooting at a school, was asking for blood donors, but not for the recent tragedy involving guns — but for the next one.
The next one? Has mass murder become that routine? Are articles about gun control, at least regarding assault rifles, become so familiar as to be meaningless — just another dull story? Perhaps this could apply to my article.
This time, it happened at Robb Elementary on the morning of the school’s second to last day of the semester. An 18-year-old gunman, who evidently shot his grandmother, “was shooting everybody” including second-, third- and fourth-graders. At least 19 children were killed and two adults, both teachers. The shooter was armed with a weapon of choice for mass killings, an AR-15 with a large capacity magazine and high velocity rounds.
President Joe Biden, who has outlived two of his children, had poignant comments:
“I had hoped when I became president, I would not have to do this — again,” the president said. “Another massacre. Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second-, third- and fourth-graders. And how many scores of little children who witnessed what happened — see their friends die, as if they’re in a battlefield, for God’s sake. They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.”
He is right that the surviving children will live with this horrific memory.
Actor Matthew McConaughey spoke out about the tragic mass shooting. The small city is the actor’s hometown.
“Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us,” McConaughey wrote in a statement just after midnight that appeared on his social media platforms.
Another Texas citizen whose hometown, El Paso, suffered from a mass murder is Beto O’ Rourke, who confronted the governor at a press conference. Gov. Greg Abbott was passing the microphone to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, when O’ Rourke stood up. “You are doing nothing,” O’ Rourke said, adding that the shooting was “totally predictable” because gun laws were not strengthened following other shootings in the state. Patrick told O’ Rourke to “sit down. ... You’re out of line and an embarrassment” and called on O’ Rourke to leave the auditorium. Then, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin shouted over O’ Rourke, “I can’t believe you’re a sick son of a b.... to come to a place like this to make a political issue.”
Law enforcement officers escorted O’ Rourke out of the news conference afterward. This illustrates the current anger and confusion stemming from seemingly never-ending gun violence with the horrific loss of children and their teachers, like Irma Garcia.
Can we focus on the shooter and find a way to deny that lone assassin, however disturbed, his lethal weapon, or will politicians continue to run from questions about gun control and assault rifles when the next mass murder occurs?
Michael Corrigan graduated from San Francisco State with a Master of Arts degree in English and creative writing. He was active in theater and attended the American Film Institute. He retired from Idaho State University as an instructor of English and speech communications. He has written several books, including “Confessions of a Shanty Irishman,” “Mulligan” and “These Precious Hours.” NPR broadcast his play for two readers: “Letters from Rebecca.”