We Must Do More Than Grieve

I have been thinking a lot the last few days about the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas.

Thinking about the victims and their families. Thinking about those who courageously risked their lives to help others. Thinking about the first responders and medical professionals who were called on to face perhaps the toughest challenge of their careers as they saved countless lives.

And, of course, thinking about how these horrible events keep happening with a sickening regularity.

One of our daughters tearfully told my wife Lorrie and me that a young man she went to high school with was one of the shooting victims. He is very seriously wounded but is expected to survive. These mass shooting events, even though they occur nearly daily, often seem far away and involve people we do not know. But we are all connected, and when someone we know is a victim, it reminds us that it can and does happen to anyone.

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After each outrage, we grieve. It saddens me that we have gotten good at grieving. But we must do more than grieve – we must act.

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Lorrie and I watched our friends Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords call for action on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. They referenced the polarized political climate and powerful lobbyists as the stumbling blocks in the way of change, and called for leadership, courage and action to prevent future events like this from taking place.

Lorrie and I join that call and stand with Mark and Gabby, the victims of Las Vegas and other mass shootings, and the majority of Americans who support not only a conversation, but common sense, concrete action to prevent future gun violence.

As Gabby said to Congress, “The nation’s counting on you” and truly, we all are.

— Captain Sully Sullenberger