Summer Moon of the Summer Solstice
Back in 1988 a friend offered me a chance to go to Bogota, Colombia. My first trip out of North America. Reading travel guides I soon learned that Colombia had a long period called La Violencia. It began during a political transition in 1946. Some say it ended in 1958, but others observe that it continues, with less intensity, to the current day. So much so that the Fodor’s said no to travel. Even in 1988. The State Department also warned against travel.
I’ve been thinking about La Violencia lately, wondering if the term might apply here in the U.S.A. The violence during Colombia’s most intense period, 1946-1958, killed 200,000 plus. Since the 1990’s Americans have killed each other at the rate of about 11,500 a year. Slightly less than twice that number die each year from suicide by gun. (CDC data) Rounding down to a very conservative 30,000 gun related deaths a year, that would mean 450,000 thousand Americans have died by the gun since the new millennium. This is a rate that is 25 times that of any developed country in the entire world.
So. I’m thinking, yes. La Violencia, USA version. Brought to you by the NRA and a perverted interpretation of the second amendment.
