Ricky Jones: We don’t need more thoughts and prayers about gun violence.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, America witnessed its 146th mass shooting of 2023 when a 25-year-old gunman opened fire in a Louisville, Kentucky bank on April 10. It was the 146th time at least 4 people were injured or killed in a single incident of gun violence on only the 100th day of the year. Like it or not, this is the norm now. It no longer surprises us.
As gun violence rages on, we are left with no choice but to conclude that America has lost its way on the issue. After every mass killing in banks, churches, supermarkets, movie theaters, concert venues and even schools, we see the repetition of all too familiar patterns. “Strong” is attached as a hashtag to the latest site of violence. It’s “Louisville Strong” this go around. Celebrities, politicians, and common folk alike take to the airwaves or social media to offer some variation of, “Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to the victims and their families after the horrible events in (choose the site) . . . Louisville . . . Orlando . . . Nashville . . . Monterey Park.”
In a few days or weeks, we forget and wait for the next one. It goes on and on and on and there is no end in sight.
On the same day of the Louisville shooting, citizens gathered in Nashville, Tennessee in support of reappointing State Rep. Justin Jones to his seat after he and fellow representative Justin Pearson were expelled from Tennessee’s legislature the prior week. The expulsions of Jones and Pearson were certainly racially charged, but the two men were not arguing against racism. It is easy to forget that they took a bullhorn to the legislative floor in protest of their general assembly’s refusal to pursue substantive gun reform in the wake of a school mass shooting in Nashville.
A few days earlier, Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie reintroduced a bill to legalize firearms in schools. Massie’s bill was co-sponsored by nearly two dozen other lawmakers. People like Massie remind us that even as men, women, and yes, children continue to be killed in maddening numbers across the country, meaningful gun reform is unlikely. Why? Because we live in a country in the throes of moral rot where many legislators are either ideologically twisted, in the pocket of the powerful gun lobby, or both.
As the body count mounts, some politicians post pictures of themselves, their wives and children wielding guns. They produce campaign ads featuring themselves shooting guns. And many citizens support them. From their point of view, we need more guns on U.S. streets, not fewer. To borrow from Richard Slotkin, these people wish to turn America into “Gunfighter Nation.” It’s madness.
The truth is, communities are not “stronger” as they continue to suffer from and normalize mass shootings, they are weaker. We don’t need more thoughts and prayers after shootings. We need more rational thinking and political policy action regarding guns. Sadly, neither seem to be on the horizon.
American politicians of a certain ilk periodically rally their supporters by opining, “They’re trying to take away your guns.” Truth be told, maybe many of those guns should be taken away.
Dr. Ricky L. Jones is professor and chair of the Pan-African Studies department at the University of Louisville. His column appears bi-weekly in The Courier Journal. Visit him at rickyljones.com.
More:Editorial: Louisville mourns mass shooting and legislative stubbornness.