The Villager Voice
On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, there were 53 incidents of gun violence in the United States. Seventeen people were killed (this does not include the death of the shooters). Thirty-four people were injured. (Source: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/) 2025 has also seen 301 mass shootings so far (today is the 255th day of the year). America has a gun problem, and it shouldn’t take the death of a national personality to awaken us to the fact. The life of the thirty-four year old male shot during an argument on the 1200 block of Persimmon St in Mobile, Alabama that day is as valuable as every other life. One’s opinion of the meaning of the Second Amendment, the efficacy of gun laws, of background checks and all the other arguments that arise in days like this are irrelevant to the reality that America has a gun problem. And like so many other conditions, the first step toward recovery is to admit the problem exists.
Brian Bilston is an English poet who has a delightful way with words. We have heard one or two of his poems on a Sunday morning. Here is the opening stanza of a typical Bilston poem called How To Avoid Mixing Your Metaphors: “It’s not rocket surgery / First, get all your ducks on the same page / After all, you can’t make an omelette / without breaking stride…” But not all his poems are whimsical. One of his most powerful is titled America is a Gun. If you’d like to read it, you can find it here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7767279-america-is-a-gun-england-is-a-cup-of-tea It is a sobering piece.
A problem needs to be named before it can be effectively addressed. If any good is to come of Wednesday’s gun deaths, this may be the place to begin.
Links to Sunday’s bulletin and service are here: