It was brought to my attention by an alert reader that I mistakenly reported a wrong number in my column last week. This well-informed member of our church citied statistics from the Gun Violence Archive which makes the distinction between a mass shooting (where four or more persons are shot at the same event) and a mass murder (where four or more are killed at the same event). Here is what I published last week as “mass killings”:
2019 — 31
2020 — 21
2021 — 28
2022 — 36
2023 — 202
The number in 2023 should have been 21 as of May 12, 2023, which includes the eight from the Allen Outlet Mall shooting. Twenty-one mass murders after only four and a half months equals all the mass murders in 2020. The mass shooting number I quoted of 202 was up to 213 as of May 12, 2023. Here is the correct data on mass shootings:
2016 — 383
2017 — 348
2018 — 336
2019 — 417
2020 — 610
2021 — 690
2022 — 647
2023 — 213 (as of 5/12/23)
Notice the dramatic jump in 2020. What are the factors contributing to this? We are all grappling with that question so that we can explore better foundational solutions. I have been asked to serve on a Conference Team to consider responses at Annual Conference next month. In the meantime, your church continues to expand its list of resources for you to access and appropriate:
We have complied resource links on our website to help you help our children.
Our Trustees have formed a security assessment team to study and recommend strategies in the event of an active shooter event. Please signal your interest or ideas to Trustee Chair Pam Gray, pamela.gray2521@icloud.com.
We are consulting other United Methodist churches for best practices.
Our Samaritan Fund helps subsidize persons in need of mental health counseling through Wellspring Counseling Center, Inc.
An Open House for taking action will be held at Suncreek UMC next Monday, May 22. ALL are welcome to attend.
The satire news magazine called, “The Onion” once depicted a classical rendering of God angrily looking down on earth and saying, “What part of, ‘Do not kill’ do you not understand?” Before it is ever a political issue, it is a religious issue of life and death. Let us choose the ways that foster life.
