WHEN DID MASS MURDER BECOME ACCEPTABLE?
Highland Park, Buffalo, Gary, Minneapolis, Kenosha…just a few of the dozens of mass shootings in the past few weeks.
Uvalde, Texas — 19 youngsters and 2 teachers murdered in their classrooms by a teenager who couldn’t legally buy a beer but had no difficulty purchasing body armor and two weapons of war on his 18th birthday.
Think about that.
27 of the 324 mass murders committed in this country so far this year were carried out in schools…and we’re only six months into the year.
More than 45,000 Americans died of gunshot wounds in 2020.
Our population of approximately 330 million souls owns more than 390 million guns.
How is that even possible in the most advanced country in the history of the world? And, more to the point, why are we so afraid of each other?
It starts with the companies that manufacture mass quantities of weapons but are protected from liability by arcane and ridiculous laws passed by legislators who receive huge contributions in return for their votes.
Combined with weapons produced for the military, it is a $28 billion/year industry that profits from death.
Gun rights groups (NRA et al) spent $15.8 million lobbying politicians and contributed more than $16 million to Republican campaigns in 2020 alone.
Ted Cruz is far and away the leader, raking in nearly a half-million over the past thirty years. His voting record is testament to blatant corruption.
He and 51 of our elected Senators refuse to debate, let alone pass, real legislation that might inhibit the gun manufacturers from flooding the private market with weapons (enough to arm every citizen of New Jersey every year) or control the use and ownership of guns through common-sense laws that 90% of the population supports.
Canada banned assault weapons and expanded background checks two years ago. They have recently proposed banning the importation or manufacture of any more firearms for private use and the government will be happy to buy any weapons turned in to them, so they might be removed from circulation. Our corrupt Republican legislators will never support that!
We could debate the Second Amendment but the courts have supported laws that were never envisioned by the founders of our democracy. The laws in Texas allow anyone over the age of 18 to purchase a weapon of war (but not a beer) without a background check, without training to qualify for a license, and then permits them to openly carry that weapon wherever they might chose.
The ‘Stand Your Ground’ law in the state of Florida allows gun owners to shoot anyone who makes them feel ‘threatened’ without fear of prosecution.
How many little kids have to be slaughtered in these massacres over and over again? The politicians who are being paid to protect the gun industry offer prayers and wishes, talk about mental health, suggest arming every teacher in every school (and sell more guns)…or resorting to home schooling as the ultimate response to school shootings…but they’re never going to stand up for common sense and common decency. These are the same officials who campaign on restricting a woman’s right to an abortion but won’t support any legislation to help mother or child after the birth.
There are 52 co-conspirators to all of these massacres, by their refusal to act to protect innocent Americans, “serving” in our Senate. They are criminals who should be impeached and indicted. Nothing can or will change until they are voted out of office and replaced with legislators willing to work for the common good rather than their financial sponsors.
Nothing can or will change until disaffected Republicans and conservative independents stop endorsing blatant lies and supporting the white-nationalist bigotry that has become the essence at the very core of the current Republican Party, grounded and amplified by Hate Television churning out distorted and false propaganda 24/7.
There are many issues that divide us, some real and far too many manufactured out of thin air, but if each of us would stop for a moment to consider how many blessings we all share, how much alike we are in spite of our differences, how the foundations at the very core of our shared social history are precious to us all, perhaps we could find common purpose to solve some of these issues that have plagued our society of decades…before another family has to bury a child butchered by another moron with a gun…because our elected officials don’t have the guts to stand up for all that’s right and true.
When the right to own weapons of war is more important than our duty to protect our children, something very sad has happened to the soul of our country. You have the power to change the future, the question is whether we, all of us, have the courage, dedication, and determination to find a way to end the carnage?
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