Mass Shootings: The True American Carnage

Only in America of all the advanced industrial nations are mass shootings the norm.  History has shown that Americans are not safe in churches, movie theaters, outdoor concerts, office buildings, and now even neighborhood grocery stories (the store in Bolder is one of my nephew's neighborhood store).  All because of the antiquated and ridiculously construed Second Amendment which increasingly puts the lives of the many at risk to satisfy the obsessions and fetishes of the few and lines the coffers of gun manufacturers with blood money. Last year over 41,000 Americans died due to gun violence. Any other cause of such a large loss of life would be addressed and described as a crisis, yet in America the blood literally continues to flow simply so that the paranoid - who should never have firearms - and those who need a gun to confirm their fragile masculinity can strut about intimidating and endangering other citizens.  It's madness and a perfect example of the hollowness of the boasts of "American exceptionalism."  The rest of the world must see Americans as insane - and they'd be right. A piece in the Washington Post looks at who three of America's allies have responded to mass shootings and greatly reduced their death toll to guns. All took actions that could and should happen here.  A Washington Post several letters to the editor looks at the American blood bath and why assault weapons must be totally banned.  Here are highlights:

How many people have to die in mass shootings before there is the political will to pass reasonable gun control legislation such as a renewed assault weapons ban?

Initial reports suggest that the Boulder, Colo., gunman used an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Similar weapons were used in the Aurora movie theater shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Orlando nightclub shooting, Las Vegas shooting, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and Tree of Life synagogue shooting.

Experience shows that an assault weapons ban would save lives. The number of mass shootings with six or more fatalities fell 37 percent during the 10-year period beginning in 1994 when an assault weapons ban was in effect as compared with the preceding 10-year period. After the ban expired in 2004, the number of mass shootings with six or more fatalities rose 183 percent over the ensuing 10-year period.

Thoughts and prayers won’t stop the bloodshed and tears. But a well-crafted assault weapons ban would reduce the number and lethality of mass shootings.

We think we are superior to our forebears because we don’t sacrifice human beings to pagan deities. But every few weeks someone slays eight people, 10 people or 50 people because our leaders tremble before a present-day idol: the National Rifle Association.

Other nations don’t have continual mass killings, only the United States.

When will politicians - mostly Republicans - cease prostituting themselves to the gun manufactures and the NRA?