It’s time for nation to build diverse coalition to lessen gun violence in America

The senseless tragedy of grisly mass shootings in this country continues to play out all too regularly and all too predictably. In Act I, a deranged madman opens fire on a group of innocents, causing mass casualties. In Act 2, a mesmerized nation glares in disbelief at front-page stories and television and online video of the horrifying attack and its immediate aftermath.

And in the final act, a wary American president calls an emergency news conference to memorialize the victims, comfort their families and appeal for a saner, safer America.

Then the curtain falls, the carnage is left forgotten in the wings, and our citizenry temporarily regains its footing – until the same shameful and shocking spectacle makes its inevitable encore.

The latest chilling encore rocked the nation Friday, when a suspected 57-year-old reclusive anti-abortion Coloradoan opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, killing three people – including a University of Colorado police officer – and wounding nine others.

Although it is not yet 100 percent clear that this reckless shooting spree was a politically motivated act of domestic terrorism, it is clear once again that it was a demented act committed by an irresponsible gun carrier.

As a result, once again, President Barack Obama dutifully marched to his national podium to issue an eerily familiar plea: “This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal. If we truly care about this — if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience — then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough.”

Once again, the president is absolutely correct. But once again, we fear his words will fall on the same deaf ears of the movers and shakers capable of crafting structural change toward less random lawlessness in this country. Sadly, a reality check shows that the lame-duck chief executive has lost traction and credibility among a wide swath of the political and popular landscape. As a one-man show designed to produce meaningful action to reduce the quintessentially American brand of mass carnage, his performance has flopped.

GRASS-ROOTS CAMPAIGN

That’s why it’s paramount that the cast of characters grow larger, more diverse and more intense. Leaders of social, cultural, community and religious institutions in communities large and small across the country should marshal their forces to galvanize a national outcry against such wanton mass bloodbaths. As history has proven time and time gain, in numbers there is strength.

They must unite behind a singular theme that is realistic yet reasonable. It is not reasonable, for example, to encourage efforts to deny the populace its constitutional Second Amendment right to bear arms. It is, owever, reasonable, to institute safeguards to ensure requisite responsibilities accompany firearms ownership.

Most Americans already agree. A full 75 percent of respondents to a recent Pew poll supported expansion of background checks to better prevent convicted criminals and the mentally ill from unfettered access to firearms and to their potentially irresponsible use of them.

Such a new popular united front against irresponsible gun use, however, must stretch beyond political domains. Leaders of such groups as ACTION (Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods), ministerial alliances and civic and community organizations also should echo appeals targeted much closer to home. They should reach out to friends and family members of those with propensities toward violence to work to ensure that firearms are securely locked and kept out of harm’s way. They should encourage those with mental disabilities to seek treatment – not gun licenses. After all, the state cannot be expected to do it all.

Such a coalition could effect a modicum of progressive change toward a more sane and secure America. Failure to act likely will only hasten the day when the same tragedy of shock and despair plays out anew to an increasingly numb and weary American audience.