Dear Editor: Another Mass Shooting...

Dear Editor,

Another mass shooting in America (four more shot, wounded, or killed) this time in Atlanta. From January 1, 2021 to March 20, 2021 there have been 101 mass shootings. Total number of gun deaths, all causes, is 9,197. That is 115 a day. Two hundred and ninety were kids aged 0-17. Guns are the 2nd leading cause of deaths for that age group and the #1 cause for black children. Three times that number were shot and survived.

Oh, that Second Amendment doing just what it was designed to do.

In 2019, four hundred and seventeen mass shootings, with 39,529 total gun deaths.

In 2020, six hundred eleven mass shootings, a 50% increase over 2019, and 43,519 total deaths due to gun violence. That is 119 a day.

America has more guns in civilian hands than any other country on Earth. Nearly 400 million; 120 guns per 100 people.

In the first twenty years of the 21st century, gun addicted Americans have shot and killed more than 715,000 people. But, with 10 years of researching gun violence in America and the World, I can say with all confidence that is an undercount. At any rate, 715,000. We should all be ashamed and horrified!

To get some perspective on just how barbaric and out of control America’s Second Amendment zealots are, consider this… Syria’s Civil War just passed the ten-year mark. We have all seen “footage” of the total devastation. Russian fighter jets dropping bombs and firing rockets. Syrian helicopters dropping barrel bombs and poison gas. Heavy artillery, missiles, machine gun fire, all the weapons of war used against a civilian population.

Most N.G.O.S. worldwide put the number of civilian war dead at 380,000 to 400,000.

Opposition activist groups within Syria, say 388,000 to 590,000.

During the same time period, 2011 to 2021, America’s gun war on America the death toll is 379,675.

Take a moment. Think about those numbers. American guns only, 379,675. Syria, fighter jets, bombs, rockets, missiles, poison gas, artillery, mortars, heavy machine guns, small arms… 380,000 to 590,000.

I turned 19 in Vietnam in 1971. More people die from gun violence in America in 18 months than U.S Service Members die in 10+ years of that war.

As of 2019, the states with highest rates of gun deaths are 1. Alaska, 2. MONTANA, 3. Alabama, 4. Louisiana, and 5. Missouri. All Republican led states! States with the lowest rates: 1. Hawaii, 2. Massachusetts, 3. Rhode Island, 4. New York, and 5. Connecticut. All Democratic run states!

The #1 contributor to homicide/suicide is easy access to a gun. Not mental illness, or “having a bad day” or any other delusional theory the addicted want you to believe.

In this state, nation, and world, an unarmed individual has never shot and/or killed anyone. That is an impossibility. Only armed people shoot and kill.

More guns; more gun deaths. 715,000 and counting (2000-2021)

Have a good life,

Gerald Johnson

Cardwell, MT