The Walmart in Newburgh was targeted by a gunman?

What if the next targeted night spot of a gunman is at the crowded Newburgh waterfront on a Saturday night?

What if the next crazed gunman visits:
- The campus of Mount Saint Mary or SUNY New Paltz?
- A synagogue in Newburgh, Middletown or Monroe?

- A local day care center?
- The newsroom of the local weekly newspaper?

These types of places have all been targeted before, so what makes us think it can’t happen here?

And if it does, we can expect to receive “thoughts and prayers” from every corner of the globe, knowing fully well that “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough to prevent this from happening yet again. If they were, then these mass shootings would have stopped long ago. Instead, we offer our thoughts and prayers and messages of condolences and then demand that action be taken to prevent this from happening again.

And then we forget, until the next time.

And if it happened here, we’d likely find ourselves asking why our lawmakers can’t agree to ban the sale of assault weapons or impose stricter background checks on those wishing to purchase guns. We might even suggest that a reasonable waiting period be implemented, one that allows for these background checks.

Will these common-sense measures eliminate gun violence here? That’s not likely, but logic would suggest that fewer weapons out in the open market means that fewer weapons will end up in the hands of the “wrong” people.

Prayer can be a powerful tool. Sometimes we should pray, not for comfort, but for the wisdom and courage to do the right thing.