This one broke my heart.
The other day, just before the new year, I read that a man in Ohio shot dead her 16-year-old daughter thinking that she was an intruder in the middle of the night. A few days later I read that a policeman in Los Angeles, responding to a disturbance call, accidentally shot dead a 16-year-old girl who was out shopping with her mom and was in the dressing room. The bullet apparently bounced off the floor and hit her in the chest, and she died in her mother’s arms 2 days before Christmas. The policeman also killed the man who was assaulting people with a bike lock. The videos apparently show that the man was standing at the opposite end of the aisle from the officer and was turning away when the policeman fired 3 shots.
Having endured a personal tragedy decades ago around Christmas day, I can imagine how the parents of these girls (certainly the father of the first one) will feel around this time of the year until the end of their lives. This post, however, is not about gun control. I am not qualified to pitch in this debate and there are plenty of literature on the topic, but I wonder about the society and the culture that houses such events.
Is it fear? Is it the mentality of “me” before everyone else? What is it that makes people’s reflex to go first for the gun, shoot and then ask? Maybe it is a question of gun availability that creates the fear, which then leads to the premature use of guns. Or maybe the US has not evolved since the wild west era, and the constitutional right to bear arms is just a smokescreen to cover up their innate fear?
Years ago, an American told me that for the US to stay cohesive and work it needs an external enemy which can unite the people. And I guess anytime you feel you have an enemy you are also afraid and need to assure yourself that you are well protected.
Paris, January 27, 2022
Zeejay