It was an average Sunday for the worshipers in Sutherland Springs until a white male armed with an assault rifle and tactical gear killed nearly 30 people. This horrific shooting has become appallingly familiar.
Mass shootings are a nearly daily phenomenon in the U.S. Many respond with apathy or passivity; we can and should do more. Congress can immediately act to fund research around solutions to the gun-violence epidemic, ban semi-automatic weapons, ban bump stocks, expand background checks to all private sales over the web, expand safety checks/wellness checks for mentally ill gun owners, implement mandatory coping skills courses in our schools and when getting a gun permit, and loudly denounce gun violence. Thoughts and prayers should begin our response, but we must end with concrete changes to our broken gun laws.
The Second Amendment should be respected, but nothing should infringe upon our right to liberty, the pursuit of happiness and, most importantly of all, the right to life.
R. Cameron Morgan, Salt Lake City