Senseless shootings must end. We can make Tri-Cities, WA safer by preventing gun violence

The Tri-City Herald Editorial Board asked, “Do we consider the Fred Meyer shooting a rare occurrence and move on? Or do we look for ways to make our community safer?” I argue that the Fred Meyer shooting was not a rare occurrence, gun violence is not limited to mental health issues, and we can make the community safer.

After feeling that I was reading a lot of crime stories in the Tri-City Herald that involved guns, I decided to track the number of gun violence incidents in the Tri-Cities to see if the data matched my perception. I started on November 19, 2021. On that day, a man was wounded by a gun shot in front of a Richland home. As of February 8, 2022 (81 days of tracking), there were 16 incidents of gun violence in the Tri-Cities reported by the Herald. That averages to one incident every five days. One act of gun violence every five days.

These gun violence incidents include six injuries and one death. They also include two armed robberies, three stolen guns, and one school lockdown, among other random and not-so-random acts.

Three incidents were in Richland, three were in Pasco, one was in Benton City, and the remainder, nine, were in Kennewick. All of the known perpetrators are men. Some of them have not yet been identified. None of the news stories mention mental health concerns about the perpetrators.

My tracking started in mid-November of 2021, so it does not include the unsolved murder by firearm of Alyssa Moore in October 2021, the Top of the World park shooting in early November 2021 that injured one person, and all of the other gun violence incidents that happened just in 2021.

So I argue that the Fred Meyer shooting was not a rare occurrence. What happened is beyond terrible and I grieve deeply for the families and our community. The story made headlines, but I want us to recognize that gun violence is happening around us regularly even though it does not always make the front page.

But we can make the community safer because we can prevent gun violence. If you own a gun, lock it up! Please keep your unloaded firearms securely stored and separate from ammunition. It is not just criminals who steal guns. In one of the tracked incidents that involved a stolen gun, the man stole the gun from his parents. And according to the CDC., 82% of youth who died by firearm suicide used a gun owned by a family member.

Learn about Washington State’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law. The ERPO law allows family members, household members, and law enforcement officers to petition a court to request that an individual be temporarily prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms because that individual is behaving dangerously and at risk of violence, either to themselves or others. If someone you love is in crisis, you can help them by removing their access to firearms. Please go to onethingyoucando.org to learn more.

We can all take action to prevent gun violence. Let us work together to make our community safer.

This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 1:58 PM.