We know the weather has changed. We know it has gotten warmer. But when, for the love of all that is good and holy in this world, did gun season in Selma begin? Honestly, we didn’t get the memo.

In the past few weeks, the number of gun-related crimes and incidents in Selma has spiked and no one knows why.

In the past few weeks we have seen a murder and a drive-by shooting that nearly claimed the lives of a 16-year-old pregnant girl and her unborn child. And these are only the two main events that we’ve covered.

What would the reaction have been if we had written a headline that said “Unborn child killed in crossfire.” Would that have struck a nerve? Would that have put the level of violence in this town in a new perspective?

Friday, Selma’s Chief of Police William T. Riley and Selma Mayor George Evans showed a level of true leadership by holding a press conference at city hall, calling for an end to this senseless violence. They called for the community to come together to solve the social ills that might be leading to such actions.

We agree with Evans when he said he was “fed up.” We are too.

This gun-related violence is not a black problem or white problem. No, gun-related violence is far too big a problem for us to lazily place race upon it. Gun violence in Selma is a problem and the only solution is one that will be found by all of us working together.

This gun-related violence is not an East Selma or Old Town problem. It is not a problem limited to poor areas of town or rich areas of town. No, gun-related violence is far too big a problem to be limited to one particular part of our city.

We must all realize — regardless of where we live, where we go to church, what the color of our skin is or how much money we make — that when a coward pulls a gun to settle an argument and pulls the trigger, that bullet affects us all.

The pain felt by the victim and their family is one shared by all of us. And it should be.

We have stood far too many times at the edge of a crime scene, looking over the top of stretched out police tape and wondered what happened. We have seen the ravages of crime on family members when they realize it was their loved ones that were shot and either injured or killed.

Selma has the strength and the power to put an end to this problem, but the solution is one that must take us all working together and coming together as a true community.

It is a solution that can only be found if we all stand up — black, white, Hispanic, Asian or whatever — and say that we have had enough of this and that we are all “fed up.”