PUTNEY — I often worry about a shooting occurring in my neighborhood or place of work and hope it never happens.
But it finally happened on Sunday afternoon - not in my neighborhood, but in my former neighborhood.
I lived and worked in Gilroy, Calif., for the better part of 26 years. I worked at the Gilroy Garlic Festival as a volunteer. It's a fun time, seeing friends and families, talking to co-workers, a great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon.
When I heard the words “Gilroy” and “shooter” on the radio, my heart stopped. I spent a lot of that Monday listening to the radio and looking at the internet for news and accounts about what happened on that hot afternoon.
Two children were killed, ages 6 and 13, and one young adult, age 22, was also killed. Several other people were seriously injured.
Here we are again, a senseless act of violence carried out by a young, white man, who had bought a gun in Nevada. Then he brought it into California, which has the strictest gun laws in our nation.
It was not Nevada's fault. It's legal there to sell weapons such as this. It is not California's fault. That state has laws against such weapons.
This only points to the fact that individual states cannot solve this gun problem alone. It will take a united effort at the federal level.
Our congress and the president need to step up and take action that will protect all of our citizens in all of our states. That is the purpose of a federal government: to protect the individual person, county, and state when they are in danger or cannot solve the problem alone.
It has been 6{1/2} years since the Newtown shooting, when 22 children were killed. What has been done since to stop this slaughter? Not enough. How many more children and adults will have to die before our government - of the people, by the people, and for the people - will act and address this issue?
Oh, and one more thing: No MS-13 members, Muslims, or people of color were involved in this shooting - nor were any involved in most of the other horrific shootings we have experienced over the years.