The biggest mass killing in American history just ended 49 lives senselessly in a Florida nightclub on Sunday. It is the latest in a long line of mass killings on this continent. This time the target was a gay community. The instruments of death were familiar; one crazed man and an assault rifle.
The assault on an identifiable group is being investigated as a hate crime. That is cold comfort to grieving families and their communities. They know they are a target of hate and proof of that will not bring loved ones back to life or make those left feel less vulnerable to future attacks.
The LGTB2 community and their families and supporters feel scared and sick. The timing of the massacre – during local Pride month events that celebrate the rights of the LGTB2 community – is palpable.
The usual response after a mass killing is for people to try to make sense of the senseless. When they can’t make sense of it, they want to know who is to blame. Identifiable groups become the targets. On the news in the aftermath we heard people target The Muslims, ISIL, immigrants. Fill in the blanks with whichever group the intolerant deem should be rooted out, kept out or squashed. Look for that link among the latest deranged killer as a way to root out people who are different.
The political opportunists crawl out of the woodwork to claim that if only we would listen to them we could be safe. They will build walls to keep out all of the crazies, those who would threaten us.
Ironically the answer to preventing such tragedies may be more in breaking down walls than building them up. Each of us, whether you are aware or not, knows people in the LGTB2 community. They are your friends, coworkers, neighbours, and even family.
There are many in our midst who target people who are different than they are. Only a radical few act violently against those groups. But it is up to all of us to stand up for the rights of people who have views and lifestyles that we don’t share.
It is easy to dismiss mass murders as an American problem. But do you remember the Ecole Polytechnique massacre when a gunman killed 14 women in Montreal? Or closer to home, the Edmonton killings in 2014 when a man shot eight of his relatives to death.
The way to protect yourself and others is through tolerance; tolerance of other beliefs, other lifestyles, and standing up for the rights of people to think and behave differently than you and have others do the same for you. You have no idea when you or your loved ones will become among the targeted, among the hunted.
The other way a society protects itself is through regulations. Deciding what is legal and not legal in the way of firearms for a free and safe society.
For the love of humanity, what legitimate use can anyone claim for an assault rifle that can deliver 24 bullets in nine seconds? Why would anyone be allowed to own a weapon designed to kill a maximum number of humans in a short time?
We as a society must protect vulnerable people from attacks and prevent people from accessing weapons that make mass murders possible. Until we do so we are doomed to mourn more victims of more mass shootings.
