Out-of-state residents send sympathy and advice after Covenant School shooting | Letters

Editor’s note: After The Covenant School shooting, dozens of citizens sent letters to the editor to The Tennessean sharing their thoughts. We have started publishing several of them, starting with reaction from Middle Tennessee. Today, we share letters from citizens out of state.

‘Faith without works’ kills our kids

“Jesus wept,” no doubt, at Monday’s school shooting in Nashville. Would His thoughts and prayers for victims and their families be followed by actions?

Questions for people who say they want to be like Him: If He were here in the flesh today, how many assault rifles would he own? Would he open or concealed carry other firearms? Would he say more people with more guns is the solution to gun violence?

Elected officials who could do something often boast of their spirituality. But “faith without works is dead,” and it’s killing too many of us, especially our kids.

Jack Bowen, Fort Worth, Texas 76131

Exclusive: Why small steps are first steps for Democrats, Republicans on gun reform | Opinion

I worried about my grandchildren

When I heard the breaking news that there had been a school shooting, I held my breath, hoping that it would not be in Florida or New York, where my grandchildren lived.

Of course, as we all know now it was in Nashville Tennessee.

Three more little children gunned down and still the Republicans say it is a political issue to ask that assault weapons be banned and that gun control laws become a reality.

When will you all wake up and realize that we need to do everything possible to limit the access to guns.

My five grandchildren are safe for now, but for how long?

Vote those out who won’t protect our children. That is our only hope. I write this with tears in my eyes.

Louise Kingsley, Plantation, Florida 33322

Editorial: Covenant School shooting should unite us in grief and resolve

A poem urging action on gun violence

This dark where we live seems barbaric to me;Gunshots that ring in the night.I see them, I hear them, and try to forget;But my heart is still shocked by the fright.

How long will it linger, this cancerous sport?How long will our Congressmen let it?We lock our car doors to keep young boys from theft,Yet we place a gun in their hand.The whistle of the wind whispers killing is near,And murder resounds through the land.

Our Senators sit there,- talk, talk, talk, talk!Yet the shame does not only lie there.I walk in the sunlight and hear only shots,Because of the burden I bear.

When will we learn that a bullet does harm?When will we take them away?How can we face ourselves, face all our kin?The clouds laugh and taunt me,“Why don’t you begin?”

Days move to weeks, on to months, then to years;Out of the silence, a deluge of tears;Families of those stricken down in their prime;How can their sorrow still fall on deaf ears?

Natalie Goulston Baff, Clifton, New Jersey 07013

We citizens are responsible for this tragedy

Another tragic school shooting, this time in Tennessee. Political pundits immediately began pontificating and wondering why assault weapons are still allowed on the streets of America.

We will hear all sorts of rationalizations as to why we continue to allow the blatant slaughter of our children. Look around and you will see the people responsible for this. It is us, the American voter.

We elected our senators and representatives. Many of those elected officials depend on the likes of the NRA, gun manufacturers, and other big businesses for their personal treasury.

The fact is that many of those elected officials value their money sources more than they value the lives of their constituents so they continually block sensible gun legislation.

We can all sit back and cry and point fingers to no avail. You can always follow the money trail. As voters, if we do our jobs intelligently, we can rid ourselves of those scumbags who continually block sensible gun legislation. We all know who they are.

If we allow them to stay in office then we have no one but ourselves to blame for the next school shooting which, according to USA statistics, will occur in less than a month. Vote the rascals out or suffer the continuing consequences.

James Stuart-Emery, Valrico, Florida 33594

Ogles’ Christmas card speaks volumes

One more atrocity involving a gun and the taking of innocent life. This time three adults and three beautiful 9-year-old children have been butchered.

Nashville's congressional representative Andrew Ogles once sent out a Christmas card depicting his family posed with assault rifles.

Apparently Ogles has sent his thoughts and prayers to the heartbroken families of the victims of this murderous incident. Perhaps he will send them all a Christmas card later this year.

Hang your head in shame, Congressman.

Joe Martin, Seattle, Washington 98122

Our nation is losing our morality

Re: "A timeline of Covenant School shooting in Nashville: What we know," March 27.

My hearts go out to the families of the innocent victims of this tragedy and to the City of Nashville.

Our nation is clearly headed in the wrong direction as we lose our morality, empathy and ability to resolve problems civilly by turning to violence instead.

Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada 89074

Collateral damage is a multiplier of tragedy

Now is the [summer] of our discontent when public servants again hope citizens will forget the latest mass tragedy so they can continue to please donors and obey ethically detached leaders.

Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, Stoneman Douglas High School, the Capital Gazette, Gilroy, El Paso, Dayton, and now Nashville, and other mass and singular tragedies, too painful and numerous, weave an ugly pattern of a troubled society into the once rich fabric of common ideals and purpose.

We mourn victims and condemn perpetrators, but do we consider the depth and breadth of the collateral damage that accompanies all tragedies?

• In an instant, families are torn apart, and their individual and collective futures are emotionally and psychologically shattered.

• Meaningful relationships, with profound future possibilities, evaporate.

• Permanent guilt is created – with family, friends, and survivors replaying the timing of fateful decisions.

• Anniversary and milestone dates that once signaled a celebration now resurrect pain and memories of lost potential.

• Children who once anticipated school as a rite-of-passage now harbor hidden fears in ways adults cannot comprehend, nor alleviate. Childhood innocence and joy are stolen.

The challenges in addressing solutions for our violent society are daunting, but we must first identify and elect people of good will and courage who are committed to finding common ground to support the common good.

If solutions must have a “win or lose” outcome, we get nowhere. Collateral damage is a multiplier of tragedy – not temporary or generational. It is the tragedy that keeps on taking.

Eric Reno, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525

Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

When is it finally enough?

My heart is breaking for the tragedy visited upon the Covenant School families and staff, as well as my Presbyterian brothers and sisters at Covenant Presbyterian. Like so many others, I am holding you in prayer. Although I live in the neighboring state of North Carolina, a tragedy like this has an impact beyond the boundaries of your community.

My question to residents of Nashville and Tennessee-and to our nation, as well-is this: when is it enough? How many more innocent children must die for us to be shocked into action?

If one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, when will you and we, as a nation, finally break the chain of insanity and undertake meaningful change? it won't come from your elected representatives, who are all in thrall to the donor PACs, and who offer only their "thoughts and prayers", but nothing of substance. Change, if it is so come, must come from we, the people.

The lives of our children depend upon our having the courage to act boldly and with compassion.

Richard Benson, Brevard, North Carolina 28712

Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee. 

Teach Sandy Hook Promise curriculum

Here we are again, reeling after another school shooting. Each time, I ask myself: How many more children and school workers need to die before we make a change? Why are we willing to live this way? I am sickened and brokenhearted.

We have had far too many moments of silence since Sandy Hook. Our children and community deserve real action to stop the epidemic of gun violence in our country. We're not alone and we're not helpless. There are many seemingly simple, yet powerful things we can do today!

More and more of our neighbors are uniting to bring the change we need. The phones in Congress are ringing off the hook with calls for commonsense gun reform, peaceful rallies are growing in numbers in cities across the country, and families and friends are gathering in their own living rooms to talk about bringing violence prevention programs to their schools. The movement is growing, and we must keep growing it.

There is reason to have hope that we can prevent gun violence before it happens through sensible gun safety laws and programs in our schools and communities that help us identify the signs and signals before a shooting happens and intervene.

To keep this hope alive and bring the change we need, I am asking everyone to take one simple action today. Make the Promise at https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/take-action/promise/ and help bring Sandy Hook Promise's no-cost, violence prevention programs to our schools and community.

Please, at the very least, donate to Sandy Hook Promise today.

Maggie Nerz Iribarne, DeWitt, New York 13214

Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee. 

Stop the cycle of think, pray, repeat

Words cannot describe the outrage and sadness I feel regarding the indiscriminate and senseless murder of the six innocent souls lost in the Covenant School massacre.

To the callous and hard-boiled assault weapon voters who elected U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (the champion of assault weapons) and others just like him, no grieving is necessary.

“Thoughts and prayers” will suffice.

Yet when you look at your children and grandchildren with worry and fear, just know that you are active accomplices in this murder spree. Why? Because you continue voting for these insensitive scoundrels of American society who relentlessly push against sensible gun restrictions, and put our kids in harm’s way every day.

No, you didn’t pull the trigger; you pulled the lever that endorses and promotes this barbaric, remorseless behavior.

And when you lay your head down each night, picture those six innocent faces, and accept that these dead children and their dead teachers will forever hold you as accomplices in these murders until you elect representatives who will protect our children, not assault weapons; and elect representatives who will agree to sensible and meaningful restrictions on these mass-murder weapons.

Until then, of course, it’s just thoughts and prayers. Again, and again and again and again.

Dennis Gallagher, West Deptford, New Jersey 08066

Opinion: Constitutional lesson: What does the Second Amendment say and do?

Second Amendment is over-interpreted

After another tragic multiple shooting, it’s time for me to send lawmakers my thoughts and prayers.

My thoughts are that it’s time you elected legislators serve your district constituents rather than your American Legislative Exchange Council, National Rifle Association, and gun-manufacturer constituents.

Enact laws now which make our communities safer by imposing licensure for gun ownership in ways that are similar to vehicle ownership regulations and, at the very least, by restricting possession of assault weapons to authorized personnel.

My prayers are that if you regard yourself as a Christian, a Judeo-Christian, or another faith-based human being, you will behave according to the tenets which respect lives, including especially respect for lives over weapons.

I am not a member of a “well regulated militia” and I do not own a musket, but I do support the U.S. Constitution, including its Second Amendment. However, I do not emotionally or irrationally over-interpret that amendment to mean unrestricted ownership of guns because I realize that “the right of the people [a collective term] to keep and bear arms” is not violated even when some individuals are prohibited from keeping and bearing arms.

Michael Lindsay, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant School shooting: Out-of-state residents send condolences