Before the deadly shooting at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center is forgotten, before it fades into the list of routine, senseless outbursts of gun violence in America, remember this: Less than two weeks ago, the National Rifle Association[1] told doctors who support tougher regulations on gun sales and a ban on semi-automatic firearms to “stay in their lane.”
Emergency room doctor Tamara O’Neal was shot dead by her ex-fiance Monday outside Mercy Hospital. The shooter then went inside the hospital, where he shot and killed Chicago police Officer Samuel Jimenez and first-year pharmacy resident Dayna Less. Police said the shooter, who was found dead in the hospital, had a valid firearm owner’s identification card and a concealed carry license and, over the last five years, legally bought at least four guns.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital surgeon Emil Fernando summed things up in a tweet: “Lemme guess, @NRA, still not “our lane” even when it happens in our own hospitals? I don’t think so.”
It’s hard to stay in a lane and keep quiet about guns when guns keep crossing into all our lanes.
Chicago hospital shooting: Young cop, doctor, pharmacy resident and gunman die in Mercy Hospital attack »[2]
Hospitals. Bars. Churches. Elementary schools. Universities. Movie theaters. Nightclubs. Outdoor concert venues. Newsrooms. Synagogues.
These deaths at Mercy Hospital, for all but the family and friends of the victims, will be forgotten before Black Friday, soon to be replaced by another shooter in another lane. Maybe next will be a shopping mall. Or a busy Main Street.
That’s not wishing for another tragedy. That’s just a pragmatic prediction of what comes next in a violent country that, thanks to “Stay in your lane!”-howling groups like the NRA, can’t muster the political will to do
