Mass shooting in Richmond, VA
The atmosphere today seems just as heavy as the mood here in Richmond, Virginia.
Our skies are hazy and a weird version of dark, and as much as the sun has been desperately trying to show us its light, it’s struggling to break through the smoke from the wildfires in Canada drifting all the way to Virginia.
It’s smoky enough that I warned my patients before taking them outside, and prepared them for the nasal onslaught of the smell from the fires. My patients with respiratory issues aren’t offered a choice to go outside. The air is just too irritating. I have asthma. I know.
The poor air quality and my lungs’ reaction to it simply walking in and out of buildings means that I have not been running this week. I don’t have the option to run on a treadmill right now.
And as I said, the sky matches the mood.
We had a shooting in downtown Richmond last night. A 19 year old started firing at graduates from a Richmond high school as they were leaving the Altria theater. 7 people were shot. A son and his father were killed. 5 others are still in the hospital. And a 9 year old girl was hit by a car as she fled the scene amidst the chaos.
If you aren’t familiar with Richmond, the Altria Theater is one of the most beautiful venues in the city. Traveling Broadway shows are featured here. And just last year, Michelle Obama spoke at a Richmond Forum event. It borders Monroe Park, which used to be the home base of the Monument 10k, one of the biggest running races in our area, and is adjacent to the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
I have literally run through this area hundreds of times on group runs with my marathon training team. Unhoused persons are routinely fed here. College kids hang out here. It may be downtown, but it’s not an area people typically avoid.
To have something so violent happen in a place with which I’m so familiar is extremely unsettling. I have friends who work in that theater. I have friends who used to teach at the high school whose graduation was being celebrated. My heart aches for them, as their intimacy with the violence is far greater than mine.
Gun violence seems so abstract when it doesn’t happen in your neighborhood, your region, or your state. We tend to keep ourselves emotionally distanced from the trauma because we have to for survival. It’s simply too much grief if you try to immerse yourself in it.
In our area, you of course hear stories about isolated shootings here and there. But this time feels different. The families impacted were simply trying to celebrate the achievements of their graduates. Lives have been gravely impacted as they were just beginning.
When will enough be enough? Clearly, thoughts and prayers to prevent death by guns are not working. But the fight to limit gun rights seems futile.
Why does the NRA have the right to buy off our lawmakers?
In 2010, the Supreme Court heard the Citizens United case, the outcome of which was to protect corporate involvement in politics. This is how it happened. This is how companies can simply buy politicians. When in their chambers, lawmakers should have to wear jerseys bearing the logos of all of their major contributors. It’s only fair to openly disclose that information, right?
If we want to get to the root of the problems in our political system, we need to begin here. Because what we have now is a system of corporate sponsorship and greed that dictates our laws. And, yes, this includes religious organizations. (Watch “Shiny Happy People” on Amazon Prime.)
We could go into more depth about the second amendment and what our founding fathers had intended. We could discuss the differences between gun powder packed, single bullet muskets in use when the Constitution was first written and the AR-15’s responsible for the loss of lives in most mass shootings in the United States today. We could explore the nuances of background checks and how laws are written to allow for loopholes (like purchasing guns from gun shows, for example), but again, this seems like wasted effort.
It’s just like beating your head against the wall. Lawmakers have been bought. They no longer represent the people.
It’s time for this to change.
Now is not the time for apathy. It’s time to get mad. It’s time to fight for our babies.
Where else in the world is gun violence the leading cause of death in school aged children? Where else in the world is homicide the leading cause of death in pregnant women? Where else in the world are there more guns than citizens? Nowhere.
This is the United States in 2023.
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Lead photo is the skyline of Richmond from the T. Potterfield pedestrian bridge. Photo by author.
This Wednesday edition of my blog needed to be said. I will not have a post on my usual Thursday this week.
As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.
Anne the Vegan 