Another mass shooting occurred today at a small church in a small town in Texas.  At this time, at least 26 have died and the suspect has killed himself…again. Same story, same ending; again and Again and AGAIN!  How often? I checked on-line for statistics with the intention of going back 20 years.  I made it to 5 and my hand was aching from all the writing. Yes, 5, V, FIVE,🖐 years and I had found 18 incidents of violence in the United States where at least 3 people were killed in a related event on a given day.

Date                 Location                    Dead   Inj.   Susp. Sex   Susp. Dec’d?    Notes

1.  11/05/2017  Sutherland Springs, TX      26     Many      M             Y      Church Shooting
2.  10/01/2017  Las Vegas, NV                       50+   500+       M             Y      Concert Venue
3.  06/14/2017  San Francisco, CA                3        0             M             Y      UPS Co-Wrkrs
4.  06/05/2017  Orange County,FL                5        0             M             Y      Co-Wrkr Killing
5.  01/06/2017  Ft Lauderdale, FL                5        6+           M             N      Airport Shooting
6.  09/23/2016  Burlington, WA                    5        0             M             Y       Macy’s Store
7.  07/08/2016  Dallas, TX                              5        9+           M             Y       5 Police Ofcr’s
8.  06/12/2016  Orlando, FL                          49      58+         M             Y       Night Club
9.  12/02/2015  San Bernardino, CA            14      22           M F          Y       Hus/Wife Killers
10.  11/29/2015  Colorado Springs, CO         12       9+           M             N       Plan’d PrntH’d

Ok, that’s half of my five year list. I’ll stop at 2 years and 10 incidents; you get the point. The numbers suggest that we are not safe anywhere, that males are more likely to kill and that when they do, most likely they will commit suicide when cornered. It’s that last part that really defines us; animals don’t commit suicide. What’s wrong with us? That question is for a far greater mind than mine to answer.  I have a few thoughts though, actually cliche’s.

1.  Growing up, I was told not to hurt people, “it’s what separates us from the animals”.
2.  In Humor, regarding the treatment of pets, “Animals are people too”.
3.  Humans? “Oh, we’re at the top of the food chain”.

Unfortunately, I feel that we’ve managed to fool ourselves into believing that we have actually evolved beyond that of, well…us.  Our ancestors, hoping that humanity would improve with the passage of time, set the bar too high. They hoped we would become more civilized, intelligent and maybe put down the club; I mean, we’re not animals, right? Some have suggested that it is our intellect that makes us superior to animals, I’m afraid that it has just made us more dangerous. Human evolution? At this pace, we are going to “evolve” ourselves right out of existence. What is wrong with us, why are we killing ourselves at a record pace? I suspect that the answer lies hidden somewhere within our “animal instinct”.