The Super Bowl victory celebration Parade in Kansas City of the Kansas City Chief’s team on February 15, 2024, became the newest victim of the shooting spree enveloping America. Even the civic celebration of success in game, the greatest American obsession with football has become victim of shooting madness. All of a sudden, the euphoria and celebration were reduced to pandemonium, fear, and running for cover.

The outcome of one dead and twenty injured together with scarred people looking for shelter, bodies crashing over others in full media coverage was driving home a painful reality. The other great American obsession with guns has made a new victim of the enthusiastic American obsession in sports. The spectacle was a pathetic reminder of the mad craze for guns becoming the spoken language of choice. What about its psychological impact on young children who came there to join in a celebration? The children will be mentally impacted, fear permeates their lives stunting their growth and psychiatric disorders rule their lives.  

Although the causalities were not as high as we have become accustomed to, but still the “societal sickness” of America, the greatest nation in the world, had been spotlighted on the national and international media. These mass shootings recurring so frequently have made holes not only in the lives of victims and their families, but also made holes in the fabric of society.

Every time a mass shooting takes place there is lot of fingers pointing, admonishments, and declarations “Say no to mass shootings.” But the net result has been that there is no change in gun laws. Unfortunately, these mass shootings have failed to garner any concrete measures to combat the menace. We have had makeshift memorials, prayers, and vigils after these unfortune incidents, but the outcome is “life as usual” and no change in gun laws. These agonizing moments have tormented the soul of the nation but have failed to galvanize the masses or the elected officials to come out with some measures to combat the menace. Let this fixation with the American icon of football turns the tide, and we produce some legislative measures to combat this madness.

Let us not make this a referendum on gun control, but common-sense measures to prevent guns, more precisely automatic, semi-automatic guns or assault guns landing in hands of children, or patients with mental-health issues. Besides guns control, illegal guns, safe securing of weapons and education will also be needed. The 3D printing at home is making the task more challenging as now it is easy and inexpensive to transform an ordinary pistol to an automatic or semi-automatic weapon. So, if we don’t want to see such gory incidents on our TV screens, we have to come to a consensus and do something about it. I am hoping and praying that we succeed. The lasting impact on child and youth exposure to violence needs to be eliminated, otherwise childhood mental health problems will likely continue to grow.
 

Image (c) istock.com
Illustration by the Author