I had the TV on mute as I excitedly chatted away. I was discussing Labor Day plans when the crawl caught my eye. Something about another shooting. As quickly as it flashed across the screen, I went back to my conversation.

As much as I mourn what seems like daily shootings in this country, I equally mourn the jaded quality they have taken up in my heart. Oh, another shooting, my mind seemed to register. Shopping malls, campuses, movie theatres, gyms … it’s a new horror every day.

But this one was different, wasn’t it?
It wasn’t until the next morning that I learned about what happened in Charleston. That horrid act of cowardly terrorism apparently prompted by a white supremacist lunatic looking to start a race war. I will never erase the image of those deadened, hate-filled eyes.

I don’t walk around wearing my politics on my sleeve. In fact, I usually joke that the only way you can offend me is to try and save me, because in most cases, THAT’S crossing the line. But I no longer can keep silent on this issue. I’m so close to being a raving lunatic about RIGHT vs. WRONG that I don’t care if I lose my job or blow relationships. This country is atrocious. The ease with which lunatics and other unstable people have access to guns is beyond shameful.

Did you hear President Obama on WTF today? Gun sales go UP when things like this happen. That’s right, we’re so worried about our friends in SC that we honor them by stocking up on weaponry in fear that the politicians finally get it right on this subject. We needn’t worry. As proud as I am of the way the good people of this world unite when we are challenged, nothing ever seems to change on this front. If not now, when is the time to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming?