Thoughts on the Douglas High School Shooting

I came over to the USA in the late 70’s. I am an American citizen and I love this country.

I love Boston and I love travel. We have had our fair share of hiccups during our company’s journey. We have seen terrorism, war, a major financial crisis, and still, people travel overseas because it is important, it teaches tolerance and cultural understanding, and it makes our young people better citizens. I am proud of all of the things that we have accomplished in partnership with our incredible educators across the USA. So how disheartening is it to watch an event like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting take place this week. A place where children should feel safe, where teachers teach to make better citizens, how can this be?

Forgive me for thinking that the events in Parkland, Florida seem to remind me of a film called ‘Groundhog Day.’ A perfectly serene day, a school where we have conducted business, a teacher that we know, and absolute mayhem and horror takes place.

We’ve seen it all before.

It is probably because I live in Massachusetts where there are strict gun laws, it is probably because I am English where we don’t have guns and where even the cops don’t carry guns, and it is probably because I do not believe in the Second Amendment. But I am sick and tired of listening to people talk about the need to provide guns for people to defend themselves against people who have guns! I am sick and tired of seeing headlines where young lives are taken; wonderful lives that have not even begun. I am sick and tired of all of those people who actually believe that having a gun in the house is a secure and safe investment for their children and for their families.

How many more times do we have to see these tragedies unfold? It almost deadens the spirits and numbs the mind when I see these incidents come through on my alerts. How can that be? How can 17 people being killed in a school be just another event on my alerts? How many times do we hear the cry for gun reform gradually quieten and disappear as the weeks go by until the next tragic incident takes place?

If this horrible tragedy is the start of real reform, then maybe I would start to believe that our country is moving towards sanity. But I fear not. Even though when we look at the statistics for gun deaths in the USA versus every other country in the civilized world, it is staggering, frightening, and embarrassing. Let this be a call to arm people with a voice that says that any organization that supports laws that protect and nurture the carrying of guns should be ashamed of themselves. Look at the statistics, look at the facts, this is not about mental illness, it is just simply about guns. Guns are bad and nothing good ever comes out of them.

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