My heart is heavy as I try to make sense of what happened at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida on yesterday. None of us will ever be able to understand the reason why one person, would make the decision to go to a school, pull the fire alarm, and fire endless rounds of ammunition into unsuspecting students. As far as I am concerned, there is never any reason for the needless bloodshed of innocent lives.
The schools in our communities are the places we send our children to get an education. Our schools are supposed to be safe for all those who enter through their doors. The thought of being injured or murdered at the hands of someone who chooses to engage in gun violence is not something that many Americans believe could ever happen to them, or anyone that they love. It is clear that gun violence has become commonplace in our communities, and was on full display on Valentine’s Day, a day we all celebrate love, and many celebrated Ash Wednesday.
I remain hopeful that one day, and I am prayerful that day will come soon, that those of us who have been elected to serve, and the citizens that we serve will come together and say once and for all that we are tired of the gun violence plaguing our communities, and make the decision to do something about it to protect the lives of our children, and our neighbors. We cannot allow the murders of American citizens, and our children to continue to be commonplace, and par for the course. These things are not normal, and we should never accept these tragedies as a norm in our society.