As many of us enjoyed the beautiful weekend with its sunshine and deep blue almost cloudless skies, a teenage girl lost her life in Trenton – the result of gun violence. We generally hear of gun violence when someone opens fire in a shopping mall or school, when the shooter is using a high capacity firearm such as a AR-15, the weapon used at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But most gun violence occurs with small guns.
Over 9 million firearms are produced each year, more than a third of them being pistols and revolvers. And they account for most of the firearm related deaths. Of the 35,355 firearm related deaths in 2019, the last year for which we have statistics, more than 14,400 were homicides, like the 14-year old girl who died Saturday night.
She had a name: Shemiah Davis. Two others were wounded, one in critical condition. It was not the only shooting this past weekend. The murderer has yet to be arrested. Why were these three shot? We may never know. But 14-year old Shemiah and many others across this country are dead from gun violence.
Prayer for the Day
We know what is required of us, yet we falter,
We know what we need to do, yet we hesitate;
We see the results of gun violence but do not respond,
But you, O God, tug at our sleeves and tell us to step forward.
Move us, O Holy Spirit, beyond the excuses we create:
So we may live faithfully according to your Gospel.
In the name of him who came to show us the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
The NRA brainwashes you into believing that you need to buy a bunch of guns, to protect yourself from all the people with gun.
Oliver Markus Malloy, Geerman-American novelist
[We must] deal with all the contributing factors to gun violence as a whole, because it like a leaky bucket. If you’ve got a bucket with six holes shot through it and plug up five, you’ve still got a leaky bucket.
Jocelyn Elders, M.D., former Surgeon General, public health advocate
But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak.
Truly I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort.
But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
It is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
Psalm 38: 13-15