Our view: 'Bullets slice through flesh and shatter bone... People die.' This must stop

Amelia Robinson, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·6 min read
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March 28, 2023: Girls embrace in front of a makeshift memorial for victims by the Covenant School building at the Covenant Presbyterian Church following a shooting, in Nashville, Tennessee. - A heavily armed former student killed three young children and three staff in what appeared to be a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Nashville on Monday, before being shot dead by police. Chief of Police John Drake named the suspect as Audrey Hale, 28, who the officer later said identified as transgender.

It is an all too familiar story that continues to cut deep.

Shots ring out in a school, church, massage parlor, office building, bank, synagogue, supermarket, dance club, factory ...

Bullets slice through flesh and shatter bone.

People are hurt.

People die.

People mourn.

Video and still images of anguished witnesses, mothers, brothers, friends, husbands, neighbors, coworkers, wives and lovers appear on TV screens and websites and in newspapers and magazines. They cry out for answers. They cry out for justice. They cry out for action.

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Students chant and hold up signs during a “Walkout to End Gun Violence” event outside White Station High School hosted by Students Demand Action in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The walkout comes a week after the school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that left six dead, including three students.
Students chant and hold up signs during a “Walkout to End Gun Violence” event outside White Station High School hosted by Students Demand Action in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The walkout comes a week after the school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that left six dead, including three students.

They cannot bear the thought of this happening again.

The stories of the dead are told, corrective action is promised and more than often blocked. Thoughts and prayers last until the next time shots ring out in a school, church, massage parlor, office building, bank, synagogue, supermarket, dance club, factory ...

Communities never really see it coming, but after so many, probably should.

It could happen anywhere. It has happened here and could happen here again.

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Mass shootings are not the only incidents of gun violence. At the writing of this piece, there were 46 homicides in Columbus this year, all but five were shootings.

But mass shootings are a problem our nation refuses to address even though after so many, for the sake of us all, it very much should.

As of April 7, Education Week counted 14 school shootings so far this year with 24 injuries or deaths.

Those numbers include the Covenant School mass shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults.

That horrific mass shooting grabbed national headlines, but so many others do not.

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There have already been nearly 147 mass shootings so far this year, according to The Gun Violence Archive. There were 647 last year — up significantly from 383 in 2016.

The nonprofit considers mass shootings to be firearm incidents with a minimum of four victims either injured or killed by gunshot.

That number includes two Columbus area incidents this year:

On Aug. 6, 2019, mourners pause at a makeshift memorial for the slain and injured outside Ned Peppers bar in Dayton's Oregon District two days after the mass shooting there. Facing pressure to take action after the latest mass shooting in the U.S., Ohio's Republican governor urged the Republican-led state legislature to pass laws requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales and allowing courts to restrict firearms access for people perceived as threats.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern Ohio history happened on August 4, 2019, when nine people — Derrick Fudge, 57; Lois Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Logan Turner, 30; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Thomas McNichols, 25; Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36; Monica Brickhouse, 39 and Megan Betts, 22 — were killed in the Oregon District, an entertainment area in Dayton.

Images of anguished witnesses, mothers, brothers, friends, husbands, neighbors, coworkers, wives and lovers appeared on TV screens and websites and in newspapers and magazines.

They could not bear the thought of this happening again, but it has hundreds of times over.

So many stories of the dead have been told, corrective action has been promised and blocked. Thoughts and prayers were sent until the next shots rang out in a school, church, massage parlor office building, bank, synagogue, supermarket, dance club, factory ...

Nashville, Louisville and East Lansing, Michigan — the home of Michigan State University — never saw it coming. They should have.

As people in those communities now know well, mass shootings can happen anywhere.

They have happened here and could again.

Below are excerpts from pieces written by the editorial boards of the Detroit Free Press; Nashville Tennessean and Louisville Courier Journal. These news outlets recently covered mass shootings in their communities.

They sadly won’t be the last.

We must cry out for answers. We must cry out for justice. We must accept nothing short of action.

Old National Bank shooting, April 10

Five crosses with hearts for victims of the Old National Bank mass shooting -- Josh Barrick, Tommy Elliott, Jim Tutt Jr., Juliana Farmer, Deana Eckert -- at the steps of the Old National Bank on Wednesday morning. The five bank employees were killed during mass shooting two days earlier on April 10. Nine others were injured, including a Louisville Metro Police officer in downtown Louisville, Ky. April 12, 2023

Josh Barrick, 40; Tommy Elliott, 63;  Jim Tutt, 64; Juliana Farmer, 45; and 57-year-old Deana Eckert were killed. Eight other people were injured.

"Louisville mourns mass shooting and legislative stubbornness," April 11 by The Courier Journal Editorial Board

"We can no longer offer up thoughts and prayers without also committing to meaningful action or our condolences are hollow. This gun violence is not only senseless, it is rooted in stubbornness, finger-pointing and platform pontifications.

What we need is resolve.

Why is it so difficult for our elected officials to implement what the majority of constituents say they want? More than 70% of Americans say gun laws should be more strict, according to a poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That number includes half of Republicans, the vast majority of Democrats and a majority of those living in gun-owning households."

Covenant School, March 27

Photographs of Mike Hill, left, Evelyn Dieckhaus, Katherine Koonce, William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs, and Cynthia Peak were placed at a makeshift memorial by the entrance to the Covenant School Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
Photographs of Mike Hill, left, Evelyn Dieckhaus, Katherine Koonce, William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs, and Cynthia Peak were placed at a makeshift memorial by the entrance to the Covenant School Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.

Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Hallie Scruggs, 9; William Kinney, 9; Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61 were killed.

"Covenant School shooting should unite us in grief and resolve," March 20 by the Tennessean Editorial Board

"Thoughts and prayers are only a start because we must remain united and uncompromising that this type of tragedy must never be acceptable.

The United States has seen an escalation in mass shootings over the years and 2023 has seen more than 100 in fewer than 100 days.

The No. 1 cause of death for children in the United States is accidental or intentional killing by firearms, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Parents pray and hope that their children’s school will be among the safest places. That is the way it should be."

Michigan State University Shooting, Feb. 13

Michigan State University student Asha Denny wields signage, Thursday, March 23, 2023, during the March for Our Lives rally at the state Capitol. The event was organized by the MSU chapter, in wake of the recent campus shooting rampage that killed three and critically injured five.
Michigan State University student Asha Denny wields signage, Thursday, March 23, 2023, during the March for Our Lives rally at the state Capitol. The event was organized by the MSU chapter, in wake of the recent campus shooting rampage that killed three and critically injured five.

19-year-old Arielle Anderson and Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner, both 20, were killed. Five others were injured.

"1 vote could make the difference on gun control in Michigan," Feb. 19 by The Free Press Editorial Board

" On Thursday (Feb. 16) Senate Democrats introduced 13 bills, co-sponsored by the entire caucus, with those reforms most Michiganders support.

(House Speaker Joe) Tate and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks expect the reform bills to pass; in the House, Tate says he anticipates bipartisan support...

“Wake up, lawmakers.” ”Americans deserve better.” ”This moment demands action.” “Michiganders deserve more.”

We've written words like these over and over. We've beseeched, implored and ordered. We've made the case with polls and statistics, with the stories of those lost and those left behind to mourn.

And nothing has changed.

But this time, there is one vote.

One vote is a tenuous safety net. It is a slender shield between the bodies of our children and those who would do them harm. It may be enough.

And so, amid despair, we find hope. What if it is different this time?"

Note: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills into law that expand background checks and establish gun storage requirements Thursday.

Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch's opinion and community engagement editor.

@1AmeliaRobinson

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mass shootings can and do happen anywhere. That's unacceptable| Our view