There's one subject that's very much on the minds of most Americans. It is something we can't seem to escape, and it haunts our waking hours.
During the first five months of 2022, there have already been 27 school shootings in our country—defined as incidents wherein school children have been terrorized, injured or killed. That doesn't include an additional 230 mass shootings in the U.S. during that same period. The collective tragedy of these events is horrifying.
So, what do we do? We decry the violence, resolve to end it and then continue the status quo—death and mayhem—with no relief in sight.
In the 10 days that followed the school shootings in Uvalde, Texas, Americans got exactly what they expected. While our country's communities reeled from the deaths of those precious school children, the madness continued. During the Memorial Day Weekend alone there were multiple new mass shootings in our country.
But where are the new laws? Legislators continue to do a political balancing act between responsible reason and an enduring reverence (mostly financial) for the out-of-control gun lobby. Empty pleas continue for thoughts and prayers for the victims, and renewed commitments are emphatically voiced by our president, senators and representatives—that they will solve the problem, once and for all.
But—oh, silly me—it's obvious that the mass shootings are really no big deal.
Instead of dashing to restrict the sale of assault-style rifles—creating better ways of keeping them out of the hands of the young, the immature, domestic abusers and the mentally ill—there are an awful lot of lawmakers who are dragging their feet. Otherwise, there could be some real hope for change.
The intense sorrow of Uvalde's community is still raw. And yet, all we've seen so far is a bunch of "yessiree," supposedly bipartisan legislators, all promising change. But the delusion of a God-given right to gun ownership is very much alive. Surely, there must be a passage in the Bible that states, "Behold, I say unto you, it is much better for a few children to die, than to take the sacred right of gun ownership and throw it on the trash heap." It's surprising that gun ownership wasn't actually memorialized in an 11th Commandment.
Surely, the perpetual incidents of gun violence should be reason to question our country's sanity, but America's apathy and inaction over gun violence sadly persists.
If America cared more about the welfare of its people and children, there would have been a slam dunk in legislation from the get-go. After all, gun violence is a horrifying reality. Each time there's a mass shooting, there's an immediate move to legislate responsibility in the possession and use of guns. Emotions are high and our senators and congressmen are swept up in a current of mutual concern. When that happens, the rest of us feel encouraged that effective laws will soon be passed.
Sadly, the crazies are still very much in control of legislation. They are a permanent impediment to responsible gun laws, as long as we keep electing them. That's the problem with our system. It's tough to trounce incumbents, even after we've realized that they are not serving the public need, and that they are compromising our safety.
Each time we have another whacko killing of a dozen-or-so innocents, our citizenry screams the need for laws that would put a dent in the sheer number of deaths. Oh yes, there's a flurry of activity, and dozens of bills are introduced in the hope that these senseless, tragic killings will stop. But there's little possibility that such mayhem will suddenly cease.
While effective laws could certainly interrupt the terrible expectation—that there will be a dozen more mass shootings during this very week—the problem continues to grow.
How did we ever get to where we are today? Americans are so accustomed to news of mass shootings that we hardly take note when a new one hits the media. And with the wounds of Uvalde still bleeding, there's been a rash of new carnage. Most Americans really do favor some rational restrictions on the access to guns—and particularly assault rifles—but it seems that the radical-right is sitting in the driver's seat.
If we look only at the lawmakers of Texas, we find that the NRA spent $2.38 million on the campaigns of Ted Cruz, Steve Scalise, John Cornyn, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, Devin Nunes, Ron Johnson and Kevin McCarthy—all Republicans. Now multiply that across 50 states. It's disgraceful.
In a very real sense, these so-called public servants are employees of the gun-makers. They are literally being paid to perpetuate our country's mass shootings. They have blood on their hands—they're killing us and our babies.
I don't know about you, but this problem needs to end. Call. Write. Let your congressmen and senators know: They must reject the blood-money of the gun lobby and start serving the American people.
The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist, and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He lives in Riverton, Utah with his wife, Carol, and the beloved ashes of their mongrel dog.
