"Momma, I'm Shot…."

While the rest of us are pursuing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness today, we might do well to remember Sandra Parks from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who will not be seeing another sunrise. Of course, we could just lump her in with all the other statistics because no one seems to care much about them. They can be rather boring and meaningless, and it's impossible to get sentimentally attached to them.

But Sandra was a real flesh-and-blood teenager of only thirteen years. What happened? Was she involved in a gas station stickup gone wrong? Was she out roving the streets with gang members? Or was she an innocent bystander who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? According to an article found back on page A12 of the Orlando Sentinel (written by Kristine Phillips of The Washington Post), the young girl "was in her bedroom, when a bullet fired from a gun outside, aimed at no one in particular, pierced a hole through her home and landed in her chest."

Sandra's mother was awakened by gunshots shortly before 8 p.m. and found her daughter bleeding on the floor. This was not some television re-enactment with fake blood; she was not observing some unpleasant scene in which she could change the station; this was her own daughter. "Momma, I'm shot. Call the police." Her mother, Bernice, sobbing reported her death as best as she could: "I looked at her. She didn't cry. She wasn't hollering. She was just so peaceful. … She didn't deserve to leave the world like that."

No one, at any age, does. One cannot help but be reminded of another senseless death—that of Kate Steinle, whose only crime was walking on a pier with her parents in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. She was shot by a bullet that ricocheted off concrete and struck her. The words we remember, perhaps her last, were, "Help me, dad." She did not deserve to leave this world in such a manner, either—dying at the hands of an illegal alien who had been deported five times and was on probation in Texas. San Francisco, being the peach of a city that it is, found her killer not guilty of either murder or manslaughter. Is it possible to try a jury? No, they would probably just take a plea of insanity, and who could argue with that?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 2016, the school Sandra attended held an essay contest about Martin Luther King, Jr. Although she was only 11 at the time, Sandra won third place in the essay contest. She took an interesting approach to the topic, choosing "to write on gun violence because the world had failed to live up to the civil rights leader's dream." She was interviewed by Wisconsin Public Radio about her essay and the way she chose to present her topic. She told them:

The world that we have become now is, like, that all you hear about is somebody dying and somebody getting shot, and people do not just think about whose father, son, or granddaughter, or grandson that was that you just killed.

She stated the truth, and it is very likely that the one who shot her did not at all care about who might be affected by his actions. The essay that 11-year-old Sandra wrote was titled, "Our Truth," and it was written about life as she experienced it daily in Milwaukee.

We are in a state of chaos. In a city in which I live, I hear and see examples of chaos almost everyday. Little children are victims of senseless gun violence.

She also "wrote about trying to escape from the chaos, from the 'black on black crime' that depressed her" (all quotes are from page A12). One thing is certain. No one needs to be a five-day winner on Jeopardy to identify and decry what is happening in some of America's major cities. A sixth-grader can do as much. Nothing indicates that Sandra was predicting what would happen to her, but her essay proved to be prophetic. Her death was indeed senseless.

Although she was only in eighth grade at the time of her death, Sandra had intended to go to college and someday be a writer. That will not happen, but perhaps the words that she wrote and spoke already will have enough eloquence and power in them to effect some kind of change.

What Happened

Police have arrested two men—ages 26 and 27—who apparently were just bored that day. "They were walking home from a store when [one of them] began to fire at no one in particular" (name withheld by GWS). Police searched the neighborhood and found the two men "hiding in a house a few blocks away." Upon investigation, it was discovered that the "four shell casings found outside Sandra's home were fired from the handgun" which "had been thrown in a kitchen trash can."

The shooter has been "charged with first-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon and endangering safety." Both men are "charged with illegal possession of a gun." We can only hope that both are convicted and that they receive the maximum penalty possible. I'll go ahead and say it because nearly everyone is thinking it: "What kind of idiot walks down the street of a major city and begins shooting randomly into somebody's house?" How can it not occur to the person that someone could be wounded or killed? They ought to face a firing squad for stupidity, if nothing else. Were they on drugs? How could they be so obtuse?

Solutions

The first remedy that comes to people's minds is that of more stringent gun control. There are two sides to that proposal. The first is that Chicago (around 90 miles from Milwaukee) has some of the strictest laws anywhere, yet this year 500 people have been killed with guns there—and many of them were innocent of any wrongdoing, just like Sandra. Believe it or not that figure is less than last year (more than 600) and the year before (more than 700). So better control laws by themselves are not going to get rid of the problem.

The other side of the coin can be seen in the article describing what happened to Sandra. The two guys not only had a handgun, they were also carrying a rifle, and in the house where they were captured, there was an AK47 lying around. (It is not clear whether the rifle and the AK47 were the same gun.) How does this happen? How many reading this article just happen to have an AK47 lying around their bedroom?

Someone needs to do some investigation to find out how those who are totally irresponsible are able to procure these weapons. Responsible gun owners have a constitutional right to be armed, and they register them and fill out the proper forms. But how do those committing violence get their hands on them. Answering this question is pertinent to all of us.

Another remedy involves society, as a whole, emphasizing the value of human life. A two-pronged attack would be helpful. First, we ought to teach the existence of God as an alternative to evolution. Some will undoubtedly cringe at such a suggestion, but no one is attacking science; Christians are in favor of all the scientific development that we can attain. Evolution, however, is not scientific. It has not and will not ever be proven true because it is a false theory that actually contradicts certain scientific principles.

Furthermore, it is based on chaos and randomness, which means no purpose exists for us being here. The Bible answers all the questions man has—where we came from, what are we doing here, what happens to us ultimately. God created us; we are here to please, glorify, and honor Him. He will reward us for doing well (Heaven) or punish us for rejecting His graciousness (Hell). Incorporated into all these things are how we ought to live now. And that does not include walking down the street and shooting at houses.

The abortion rate has declined in the United States, but legal abortions still say that the life of a child does not matter; it's not protected. If human life has no value, why not kill it when it inconveniences us? Consider how many have been killed in Communistic countries where belief in God is considered a dangerous opiate. How ironic that Christianity is considered a threat when it is atheism that actually kills people! If a baby can be aborted, then why cannot children be abused? Infanticide has already been practiced. We either respect the value of human life, or we do not.

Many will be horrified by the following suggestion, but it comes from God: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man" (Gen. 9:6). Those who commit murder should be put to death—and swiftly. It is ludicrous for someone to be on "death row" for 15 to 20 years. If the evidence is ironclad and conclusive, the execution should be swift. This shows the value of human life—that no one has the right to terminate it—except as authorized by God in this situation. Obviously, if the evidence against an accused individual is circumstantial, a more cautious approach must be applied. Also, manslaughter would need to be considered in cases where there was no intent and an accident truly occurred. This would not be the case with Sandra's killer; he should receive the death penalty (but probably won't).

Elected Officials

We elect people to protect society. The mayor of Milwaukee commented: "Tragically, her death was caused by someone who just decided they were going to shoot bullets into her house, and she's dead." Okay, he got the facts right, but what else will be done? Anything? The following is a plea to mayors, governors, congressmen, senators, and the president.

All citizens have an idea about how politics is played out; unfortunately, we see too many examples about how low politicians can stoop. We also know that men running for office have to appeal to their bases and win over as much of the opposition as they can. We understand the need for occasional posturing and trash talking. We get it—that both parties try to put the best spin on what they are doing and the worst on their opponents.

But what happened to Sandra Parks in Milwaukee and to teens in various other cities is not a Democratic problem or a Republican catastrophe—it's an American tragedy! Could we, for once, not try to politicize a problem? Is it possible, at least once, to help solve a problem that the voters put you in office to do? How can you be satisfied to let this devastation continue?

It seems we have enough money to spend on the mating habits of some insect or obscure animal. Why can't these situations involving the deaths of young people be as thoroughly investigated and studied as they are—and prevented? There must be some reason why guns are available to goons. How do weapons get into the hands of weirdos? Why is not every person's life respected? It is unfathomable how anyone would walk down the street and say, "I think I'll open fire on this house." But it happened.

Those of us in these communities need to help, but those who have civil authority could do so much more. You have our tax money. Why not use it to keep future taxpayers alive? Don't just authorize a commission; get results that we can all live with. Remember what Sandra wrote two years before her death: "Little children are victims of senseless gun violence."