Unnecessary, Too

Needless, pointless, preventable, unwarranted, excessive. Unnecessary.

What do these words have in common? They all describe the ninety-four deaths of students in the Chicago Public School system in the last three years.

It breaks your heart enough when you hear of teens dying in horrific automobile accidents. You feel a great sense of pain when a child or teen dies because of a suicide or in a tragic house fire.

The thought of a youth dying because of illness is even harder still to bear.

However, when you hear of a child dying at the end of a bullet - it tears your heart right out from you - Especially when the child was not the target of the bullet.

Another unnecessary death.

This all stems from the unnecessary possession of assault rifles by crazed, uncaring street hoodlums. These individuals have no care or concern for themselves, never mind those potential and unnecessary victims near the vicinity of their dastardly acts of violence. Their only purpose is to wreak havoc on unsuspecting communities.

What has wrought all of this destruction and death?

Gun violence. And not just your typical "Saturday Night Special", or your common handgun. It's not even the gun your grandfather hid beneath the bed. No, these guns are the very same guns issued to local law enforcement departments. The same firearms issued to our brave men and women representing the United States in the various theaters around the world.

That's right. Thugs, hoodlums and other criminals have access to militia-style weaponry. Moreover, they are carrying these very guns throughout the streets of Chicago, Illinois and cities big and small across this country.

Guns that were created for mass destruction are in your next-door neighbors' home.

Unnecessarily.

Tech-9, AK-47, Glocks - these are the guns teens are using to kill. Killing other teens. Other teens who had no knowledge these guns were so close to them when they went off. No idea someone had a grudge against someone they didn't know, but wanted to exact revenge upon and they got "caught in the crosshairs" and are now dead.

Unnecessarily.
All of this is unnecessary. All of it is repairable.

Better, stronger gun legislation is only the start of correcting this heinous wrong.

I do not have the answers. I do not know what can be done to stop the killings. However, I do know one thing - IT HAS GOT TO STOP!

One more youth dead because of gun violence - unnecessary.

This article - necessary - for the survival of our youth.