Dear Trump.
Don’t be naive. Number 307 will not be the last this year. And as the bodies crumple to the floor, the carnage remains on your watch.
We are 46 weeks into the year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, that places mass shootings at a relative frequency of nearly one per day. With over 11,000 deaths per year due to gun-related homicides, firearm assaults are now recognized as a leading cause of death in America.
Yet, AR-15s stay in legal circulation along with other semi-automatic weapons that fire obscene quantities of rounds in disgustingly brief intervals. Arms like these were designed for the military, not civilians, and certainly not deranged ones.
On the night of the Borderline Shooting, a son went to bed fatherless, a father son-less. A survivor of the Las Vegas Route 91 mass shooting and now the Borderline Bar and Grill gets a third chance at life, while another leaves behind a distraught mother.
But somehow, many feel more guns are needed. Even many survivors hold fast to this belief.
“If the right people with the right training were there, it could make a difference,” said David Anderson, two-time mass shooting survivor of the Route 91 Music Festival and Borderline Grill.
Anderson was one of the lucky ones. A fellow survivor and friend, Telemachus Orfanos, 27, who rushed to the aid of hundreds on the field beneath Mandalay Bay last year, was struck and killed only miles from his home.
Just like in Vegas, he was just trying to enjoy a celebration of good music.
On November 7th, Thousand Oaks locals gathered for “college country night” at the Borderline Bar & Grill, regarded a “haven for country line dancing folks of all ages” since its founding in 1993.
Among those who lost their lives in confrontation with the gunman was Sergeant Ron Helus, a 29-year veteran of the Thousand Oaks Police Department who had plans to retire to enjoy more time with his wife and son.
Six unarmed, off-duty officers were also at the bar when the shooting commenced, and quickly stepped between the perpetrator and the college-aged attendees. But, in spite of their efforts, 12 were murdered not including the gunman, bathing the city of Thousand Oaks in a sickening coat of innocent blood.
Niche ranked Thousand Oaks the third-safest city in the United States this year, going to show just how unpredictable these kind of events are.
“I’ve been a cop for 41 years,” said Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean. “But I’ve learned it doesn’t matter what community you’re in, it doesn’t matter how safe your community is. It can happen anywhere.”
Trump still remains silent on the issue of gun control, but released two tweets tributizing the “great bravery shown by police.”
