It’s 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26. I just got back to our little town of Harpswell from downtown Brunswick. It was a wasted trip today. Brunswick Home and Garden? Closed. Nest? Closed. The dry cleaner? Closed. Fleet Feet? Closed. Hannaford? Closed. Indeed, the whole town was shut down as if it were a national holiday. Only problem? It wasn’t. It was the opposite. Eighteen people murdered by an armed gunman with a weapon no sane person needs, much less one who has lost his mind.
I’m not afraid. I have faith in God and my own eternal nature. But I’m angry. I’m angry that one more deranged man has used his “freedom” to carry a weapon meant only to kill, and has used that weapon to wreak havoc. And I’m beyond angry that the “freedom” to carry weapons meant for slaughter has denied my grandchildren the freedom to go to school today, denied store owners the freedom to open for business, denied employees the right to earn a living wage, denied law-abiding citizens the freedom to carry out their day without fear, denied us all the freedom to socialize in public places that should be safe, denied police officers the right to do their jobs without having to face weapons of war.
I’m angry indeed. I’m angry that my freedom, your freedom, our children’s freedom, our shopkeepers’ freedom, all freedoms now seem secondary to the “freedom” of guns. I’m sick of it and I want my freedom back. We all should.
Entire towns were shut down today. It’s easy to call the gunman insane. But truly, how sane is it to create a society in which the freedom to own a gun exceeds everything else? Entire towns … it’s like living in a war zone. It has to stop.
Amy Haible, Harpswell Neck
