“Kill Violence. Resurrect the city.”
This quote from a friend I follow on twitter, accurately portrays the feelings many people in Toronto have about the recent surge in gun violence. Or more specifically, her feelings on the shooting incident that took place in a Scarborough neighborhood last night, where TWENTY FIVE people were shot, two fatally, and one was trampled. Toronto Police Chief, Bill Blair, called the shooting “the worst incident of gun violence, in [his] memory, anywhere in North America.” Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident, last night’s shooting incident is a part of a string of rampant gun violence that started a little over a month ago.
The first incident was the Eaton Centre shooting , that happened June 2, which resulted in the death of one person and injury to seven others. Two weeks later the gun violence continued with the shooting incident in Little Italy, which resulted in the death of two people. Now fast forward a little under month since that incident, to July 16, the date of the most recent entry in the string of gun violence.
It’s clear if a solution to end the recent wave of gun violence isn’t found, we could be looking at a repeat of the summer of the gun. And from what I read from this article, we better find a solution quickly before this problem turns into a pandemic.The use of the word “pandemic” may seem foolish as it refers to an outbreak of a disease, but my use of the word is correct because as, respected journalist and author, Chris Hedges, once said “violence is a disease, a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause.” So let’s work together to find a cure for this disease, before we all succumb to it.
