A Litany for the August Special Session of the Tennessee Legislature

When gun violence is the number one killer of children in our state,

We have to try.

When our state laws dictate a minimum age to drive, to be allowed to skip school and to buy a beer, but no minimum age to carry a rifle, including an assault-style rifle,

We have to try.

When Tennesseans are having dinner delivered to their doorstep and shopping online because of legitimate fears of being on site for the next mass shooting,

We have to try.

When communities of worship are locking their doors and only closing one eye when we pray,

We have to try.

When parents come home to empty beds, missing the children we are used to tucking in every night,

We have to try.

When we have managed to legislate seatbelts and motorcycle helmets before crashes because we know they save lives,

We have to try.

When the majority of Tennessee deaths by firearms are the result of suicide, and many who are suicidal express thoughts of self-harm to others before taking their lives,

We have to try.

When a large majority of Tennesseans support common-sense gun legislation such a background checks, permits and red flag laws,

We have to try.

When we know there is nothing more precious, sacred and irreplaceable than a human life, and over 1500 lives are lost every year in this state to firearms,

We have to try.

When even the most powerful and wealthy special interest lobby is still not as powerful as the concern that Tennesseans have for the safety and wellbeing of their neighbors,

We have to try.

When the entire nation is watching us to see if we will get this right,

We have to try.

While no legislation is perfect or a fix-all for the pervasive problem of gun violence in this state, at the end of the day we love one another, and because of that,

We have to try. With God’s help, we have to try.

Photo credit: Johnnie Izquierdo for The Washington Post via Getty Images