Gunz Yo

There is a sickness in North America, and I fear it is spreading. When I heard there was a (yet another) deadly shooting in Texas (and Buffalo) recently, I was almost unmoved. Almost. After a second of shrugging my shoulders, I was overcome with grief, and fear, and suddenly felt deeply unsettled. Again.

Are we meant for slaughter? We are, all of us, victims! This fascination with guns is poison. These are instruments of death. How is it we are shocked when they are used as such?

And we are all responsible. It is not just the shooters who should be blamed. We all consume the same media, buy into the same lies, say the same prayers, hold the same moments of silence. We are part of the same culture. Some of us die because of it.

But we are not in the USA, I hear people say. No, but we live in Alberta, which is pretty damn close. Our politicians are Diet Trumps, and we continue to stock up on sodas. It's not that I think background checks are the answer, because I am not convinced these murders would cease if there were. Sure, gun control would help, but gun control does not make us immune or invincible. We will still bleed.

I do not know what the answer is, but there must be one. Why are we not looking harder for it?

Joshua Wiebe