This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings, two mass shootings that left over 30 people dead. Remembering the victims of last May's horrific events has been punctuated by the most recent mass shooting this month in Allen, Texas – the state's deadliest since the Uvalde massacre. Acknowledging the anniversaries of mass shootings, even as fresh tragedies continue to occur, has become part of the rhythm that accompanies America's deadly gun culture.
By now it has become painfully clear that we cannot rely on policy alone to stop this epidemic. We must think differently about this problem and attack the root of the issue: the myth that guns make us safer. Today most Americans believe this myth, which lies at the core of our deadly gun culture, and it's leading more and more Americans to buy guns. The gun lobby and its enablers have long pushed the myth that only a so-called good guy with a gun could stop a bad guy with a gun. As the bodies have piled up, however, gun advocates have only expanded the universe of armed good guys — from teachers to now grandparents.
