I was lucky at Chiefs rally shooting — and luck is all GOP politicians offer with guns | Opinion
At last week’s Super Bowl victory rally in Kansas City, we had stopped near the west side of the stage area in front of Union Station for a few moments and contemplated waiting to see if some of the Chiefs players would be coming that direction. We had seen a few other VIPs exiting the rally in that same area, so it appeared there was a good chance of potentially meeting some team members. However, after having spent the past few hours Wednesday afternoon standing among the packed crowd, we decided we were ready to move on.
Just a few minutes, later gunfire erupted near that spot. Looking back, that simple decision may have been a lifesaving choice.
Just luck, I guess.
I actually felt pretty calm during Wednesday’s tragedy, as none of our children had accompanied us. As my husband and I were being escorted by law enforcement from one spot to another at Union Station to elude the shooters, with officers rushing past us with military-grade weapons, I kept thinking how glad I was that none of our kids were there.
Another lucky break.
I started to think how this was actually my family’s second brush with the direct effects of gun violence in less than two years. In March 2022, I found myself anxiously waiting outside my son’s high school after an active shooting incident. While a student, an administrator and a school resource officer were injured, my son was down the hall and was able to avoid the incident.
What a stroke of luck.
On Wednesday, once the area was deemed secured and we were released, we were directed out of the building and saw images that are hard to shake: young children with tear-stained faces and some very young individuals being loaded onto stretchers and into ambulances. This is the reality of life in America — a country where you only ever need half a flagpole. It’s a place where we’ve decided luck should play as great a role in keeping us safe versus commonsense solutions.
In a country with nearly unfettered access to firearms, carnage and destruction are a frequent result. Our stats in this regard tell the story:
- The U.S. gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than that of other high income countries.
- Firearms are the leading cause of death for children.
- So far this year, there have been more mass shootings than days.
Kansas and Missouri rank 37th and 38th respectively in strength of gun safety policies, and there were numerous Kansas and Missouri lawmakers in attendance at the Wednesday rally. So, what was the response of our states’ legislative leaders? It appears there were no calls to action to reduce gun violence by leadership (which is GOP-controlled in both states). In fact, the very next day, the Republican supermajority appeared to double down on their desire to even further remove firearms restrictions by introducing H.B. 2803, which would allow the state to opt out of following federal gun laws.
As former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander noted recently, there is no other area where we similarly leave safety standards to chance. We have safeguards in place with our food supply. There are codes regarding the construction of buildings. We have rules pertaining to driving and flying. None of the safeguards are perfect, but they’re designed to minimize risk. But with firearms, that all goes out the window. Logic or facts can’t seem to play a role when it comes to guns. Instead, we leave things to chance.
If you are ready to do something about the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S., instead of leaving your fate and that of your loved ones to chance (and the deep pocketed gun lobby), I encourage you to join Moms Demand Action, an organization fighting for commonsense gun safety measures. Additionally, every single Kansas state senator and representative will be on the ballot this fall. If you want lawmakers in office who actually have the courage to act on behalf of the people, and not the gun lobby, show up for every election and support Moms Demand Action’s Gun Sense Candidates.
Otherwise, this cycle of death, carnage and trauma will continue.
And, sadly, our luck might just run out.
Cindy Holscher represents District 8 in the Kansas Senate.
This story was originally published February 19, 2024 at 10:38 AM.