Tag Archives: Boulder shooting

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He embodied the best of us

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The reality is stark, which is that Eric Talley’s life was no more valuable than any of the other nine individuals who died in the Boulder, Colo., massacre this week.

However, his was the first name that went public as police sought to unravel the horror of the event.

You see, Talley was an 11-year veteran of the Boulder Police Department, which I understand is a small department charged with protecting and serving the community that is home to the University of Colorado.

Talley was a husband and well as a father to seven children, the youngest of whom is 7 years of age.

He died answering the call to help. The Boulder PD received the 911 call from someone inside the supermarket and Talley was the first one there. He rushed in to protect the community. He died in the effort.

In a tragic sense, Eric Talley’s story isn’t unique. We know of men and women who have given their lives to protect others. They rush toward the signs of danger, not away from them. The first responders of 9/11 reminded us of the valor they display daily. You hear occasionally of Good Samaritans, civilians with no apparent training in these matters, rushing to the aid of their fellow travelers.

The men and women who suit up as police officers and firefighters are a special breed of humanity. Many of them are just like Eric Talley, a 51-year-old police officer who sought to save others from tragedy only to meet it head on himself.

My career as a journalist put me in touch with police officers, firefighters and EMTs frequently during many years covering and commenting on their activities. I have told many of them how proud I am of the work they do and how grateful I am that they are willing to answer the call when it arrives.

I am going to thank Eric Talley now for the sacrifice he made on behalf of his colleagues and for the people he took an oath to serve.

Our nation mourns the latest senseless loss of life.

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Is this the moment for action?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Barack Obama wiped away tears while talking to the nation about the massacre of 20 first- and second-graders and six of their teachers in Newtown, Conn.; he implored Congress to toughen gun laws.

It didn’t act.

Donald Trump took office right after Obama and vowed to end “this American carnage.” It didn’t end during his term in office. He had opportunities to demand action from Congress, but he never took the bait.

Now it is Joe Biden who is facing the dilemma of what to do about the continuing senselessness of random gun violence. So it goes and so it will continue to go, more than likely.

In the span of a little more than a week, eight people died in Georgia at the hands of a gunman and then 10 more died from a shooter’s evil intent in Colorado. The first tragedy appears to be inspired by hate of Asians and of women. The motivation behind the second incident is still a bit murky.

What in  the name of righteous indignation happens now?

My hunch? Probably not a damn thing!

The National Rifle Association has sunk its claws deeply into the hides of many members of Congress, where laws could be created  that might be able to stem the “carnage” that Trump vowed to eradicate. The NRA stands firm on this preposterous notion that any law somehow would deprive “law-abiding citizens” of their constitutional right to “keep and bear arms.”

I will not let go of the notion that there is a legislative remedy out there that can be enacted. I want Congress to act. I am tired of the inattention to a solution that well might put an end — finally! — to the heartache that has spilled over yet again.

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Time to act … again!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden said the following today while commenting on the Boulder. Colo., massacre that left 10 people dead, including a police officer who rushed to the scene when the shooting started.

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said in remarks at the White House following Monday’s shooting. “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. … We should do it again.”

OK. Do you think it will happen? Do you believe that lawmakers who snuggle up to the gun lobby are going to do the right thing?

Neither do I.

Which makes this latest plea for sane gun-control laws yet another exercise in extreme futility in this most recent moment of misery.

As The Hill reported: Biden called on the Senate to “immediately pass” two House-passed bills that would expand background checks for firearm sales, noting that both passed the Democrat-controlled lower chamber with some Republican support. One of the bills would close the so-called Charleston loophole by extending the initial background check review period from three to 10 days. The bill is linked to the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., in which a white supremacist killed nine Black Americans at the Mother Emanuel AME Church.

Biden urges Congress to pass assault weapon ban | TheHill

Republican senators are likely to filibuster any effort at meaningful reform. It takes 60 votes to break the filibuster; that means a 50-50 Senate requires 10 GOP senators to cross over. They won’t do it.

I am beyond weary listening to gun lobbyists declare that any effort to strength gun laws somehow masks some nefarious plot to disarm Americans. I long have maintained that there must be a legislative solution that remains faithful to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which allows citizens to “keep and bear arms.”

I am not alone in this belief. Sadly and tragically, the gun lobby with its big money and its bullying strategy continues to keep these remedies off the books. The result is inevitable: More Americans are going to die the way those 10 victims perished in Boulder.

Shameful.