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Fourteen Days of Tragedy Continue in Illinois

February 14th, 2008, blog post by kmcomer

Today in Illinois we saw yet another in a string of major shootings in the United States in the last two weeks. The shootings included:

  • Saturday, February 2nd: 15-year old honor student shoots and kills parents and two brothers in Baltimore suburb;
  • Saturday, February 2nd: Gunman shoots and kills five women in suburban Chicago clothing store;
  • Sunday, February 3rd: Gunman shoots and kills three at suburban Washington, DC pizzeria after argument over Super Bowl;
  • Wednesday, February 5th: Gunman shoots and kills police officer, three others in fiery Los Angeles stand-off;
  • Thursday, February 6th: Disgruntled citizen shoots and kills two police officers, three others in rampage during Missouri city council meeting;
  • Friday, February 7th: Nursing student shoots and kills two other female students and herself in Louisiana.
  • Thursday, February 14th: a man opens fire in a Northern Illinois University Classroom killing 5 and injuring 16 before turning the gun on himself.

Washington State has seen its own fair share of firearm violence in the last few months. It happens in every corner and community of our state. Here in Seattle in the past few months we have also had shootings all over the city. Over the holidays two people took the lives of their family members, including two small children. Young promising students have had their lives cut short at parties in Kirkland or convenience stores in Pierce County. And in Clarkston in mid-January, there was yet another family massacre.

Firearm violence takes the lives of over twice as many people as AIDS does each year. It is one of the top five leading causes of death of young people aged 15-24 and one of the top ten leading causes of death for anyone under the age of sixty-five. When will we say “enough is enough”?

Firearm violence is a preventable epidemic, but if the problem is left unchecked by our communities and policy makers, it will continue to spiral out of control. 81% of all involuntary commitment records in Washington State currently are not recorded into background check databases and individuals can legally purchase firearms without background checks through classified ads, from strangers, family members or at gun shows. Legislators here in Washington State are working now to strengthen our background check requirements for those who are involuntarily committed.

Firearm violence is a solve-able problem if people simply banded together. We must, in our local communities, talk more about how to solve firearm violence in our neighborhoods. And together, we must push our policy makers to strengthen our firearm laws through common-sense policy measures so that we can build safer communities and save lives.

Learn more about what you can do in your community by reading Ten Things You Can Do Now.

Join Washington CeaseFire's efforts to combat firearm violence.