| |
Once more, America read, saw and heard an all-too-familiar headline: 21 killed in Texas
school massacre. On 24 May 2022, another mass shooting in America took place in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children
and 2 teachers were killed at the Robb Elementary School.
And once more the mouths of our politicians spouted meaningless words of remorse following the
slaughter. Vice President Kamala Harris rushed to call for an “assault weapons ban” in remarks after the Texas school
shooting, following back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas. She told reporters that “everybody's
got to stand up and agree that this should not be happening in our country, and that we should have the courage to do
something about it.” But the facts are that after some 20 or more years of increasing gun violence in this country,
our elected officials have done less than nothing to end the slaughter!
“On the issue of gun violence, I will say, as I've said countless times, we are not sitting around
waiting to figure out what the solution looks like. You know, we're not looking for a vaccine,” Harris told reporters in
Buffalo. “We know what works on this. It includes, let's have an assault weapons ban. You know what an assault weapon is.
You know how an assault weapon was designed. It was designed for a specific purpose, to kill a lot of human beings quickly.
An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.”
The Vice President, who also took the opportunity to call for enhanced background checks for firearm
purchases, noted that to date, there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the country, despite being “barely halfway
through the year.”
“What's happened just, with those babies and the teachers being killed in Texas, the funerals
haven't even really begun in terms of mourning that loss,” she said. “We're looking, at on the heels of Atlanta just
a year ago, Orlando, the Tree of Life — we have to agree that if we are to be strong as a nation, we must stand strong,
identifying our diversity as our unity, and that anyone who is trying to break that down, it's hurting us as a country and
as individuals who should identify as one, as a country as Americans.” [1]
As always, following a mass shooting, we receive lots of words from our elected officials,
but with absolutely nothing meaningful to actually back up the rhetoric!
“Remember the old Billy Crystal skit on ‘Saturday Night Live’ — couple of working guys exchanging
stories of various forms of painful self-abuse (shoving a meat thermometer in his ear and banging on it with a ball peen
hammer, rolling naked on thumbtacks arranged points up on the floor), always ending with ‘Ooo, that must have been painful.’
‘Yeah, I hate when that happens.’ As if they hadn’t inflicted the pain on themselves. That was the joke, the
irresponsibility.
“President Joe Biden, addressing the nation the night of the Uvalde massacre of school children was
convincingly pained and outraged when he asked: ‘Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this
happen?’ He really hates when that happens. But there is also something disingenuous about his frustration. It’s hard to
resist dismissing it, after so many similar moments, as ‘yaddayadda.’
“We know, have known for decades, why it keeps happening. The cause of school shootings and
gun homicide in general is access to guns. In countries that have greatly reduced numbers of guns, deaths by guns are a small
fraction of ours. (That sounds, and is, as obvious as pointing out that if you stand in the rain you’ll get wetter than if you
don’t.) [Emphasis mine]
“And in fact most Americans want to apply that logic to the problem and strongly regulate gun
possession. But there is a deeper cause of the terrible slaughter at Uvalde (or Sandy Hook, or Parkland, or Buffalo, or Las
Vegas, or El Paso, etc, etc.): Republicans {but mostly, the gun lovers of America} cause the slaughter.
“I know, that sounds so harsh. But is there any other way to see it?
“As well known as the relationship of gun numbers to gun deaths is that the Democratic Party is the
one which, hating when that happens, proposes gun control that most citizens want. The GOP, not hating it so much apparently,
vote down the proposals of gun control. (Or in the case of the ban on assault weapons, vote to end it.)
“This is not to say that those lawmakers who vote down strict gun controls and those constituents who
vote them into office actually want the slaughter of young children, or the fearfulness of schoolchildren everywhere. But they
want the freedom around guns more. It’s a question of priorities. {It’s clear that to the gun lovers of America, gun
ownership takes precedence over the lives of children and others!}
“Maybe the thinking of the gun-fetishists goes: ‘Yeah, it feels terrible when you actually think
about those kids in their last moments, when you think about their parents, but on the other hand, statistically, the number
of kids massacred, even now that it’s become such a common occurrence, is tiny compared to the total number of kids. That
percentage, compared with the loss of the freedom — an American sort of freedom Europeans probably just don’t know anything
about — the freedom to possess a gun, especially a serious, assault-type gun, maybe to carry it openly or flaunt it at public
gatherings to bolster your self-confidence — well we would hate losing that great, free, empowered feeling even
more.’
“When it comes down to it, those Republicans who are once again, post-Uvalde, opposing more gun
restrictions (both lawmakers and those citizens who vote them into office) will once again accept the trade-off.
“We hate when that happens.
“Deranged, hateful shooter. Easy access to terrible weapons. But the bottom line is that the
GOP {and their gun-loving backers} is the cause of gun slaughter. Period. And, in a democracy, voting them out is the cure.
Period.
“The majority who really do hate when that happens, even more than the loss of
American macho gun-toting freedom, must find a way around the loopholes that permit our current de facto minority rule and
vote them out. Anything less will in a sense, in a real sense, even for those who say they want to protect schoolchildren
from massacres like Uvalde, amount to a choice to continue to live with it. [Emphasis mine]
(Ref. 2)
Earlier in the year, the headlines on TV, on the radio and in the newspapers screamed: “gun violence”,
“mass shooting”, “horrific attack”, etc. This time, the mass shooting occurred on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York. One
news story read:
“Police in New York are continuing to search for a gunman who opened fire on a crowded subway train
in Brooklyn during rush hour Tuesday morning. The gunman fired 33 shots after throwing two smoke grenades on the floor of the
train. Ten people were shot, and another 13 were injured. The New York Times described it as the worst attack in the history
of the city’s subway system. The shooting occurred in the working-class neighborhood of Sunset Park, which has a large Latinx
and Asian immigrant population. Police have identified a 62-year-old man named Frank James as a person of interest in the
mass shooting. Investigators say the gunman left behind a bag on the train carrying fireworks, a hatchet and two gas
canisters, indicating he might have been plotting a broader attack.” (Ref. 3)
Earlier in the same month, we read of another mass shooting, this time on the west coast of the
country.
“Authorities were searching for a man identified Tuesday as another gunman in a California shooting
that left six people dead and 12 injured this month, police said.
“Mtula Payton, 27, was one of at least five suspects who investigators in Sacramento think opened
fire in a busy downtown area April 3, the police department said in a statement.
"Payton is the third suspect identified in what authorities have described as a barrage of gang-fueled
gunfire.” (Ref. 1)
In mid-May of this year, a white gunman in military gear attacked shoppers and workers at a
supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people and wounding three others. Most of the victims were Black. Officials
investigated the shooting as a racially motivated hate crime.
In the attack, a white 18-year-old wearing body armor and livestreaming with a helmet camera, opened
fire on a Saturday afternoon outside a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo.
The gunman began shooting in the parking lot and then moved inside the store. Security guard Aaron
Salter fired multiple shots but none penetrated the gunman’s armor. The gunman killed Salter, who was Black, and then stalked
through the aisles, shooting shoppers.
At one point, he trained his weapon on a white person cowering behind a checkout counter, but said
“Sorry!” and didn’t shoot.
When police confronted the gunman in the store's vestibule, he put his rifle to his own neck, but
surrendered and dropped the gun with coaxing from the officers.
The gunman was came from Conklin, New York - a small town about 200 miles southeast of Buffalo. The
rifle used in the attack was purchased legally but the ammunition magazines used were not allowed to be sold in New York
state.[4]
I started railing against the rampant gun violence in America some seven years ago and since then
have written a number of articles on the subject. In the years since I started calling for an end to the shooting
craziness in our nation the federal government has NOT taken one single meaningful step toward ending the epidemic
of killing and maiming with firearms! Our mealy-mouthed politicians have cried crocodile tears over the lives lost
but have done absolutely nothing to stop it. FOR SHAME AMERICA!
As I have previously and repeatedly written, there is only one practical way to eliminate the
growing scourge of gun violence in America, and that is to
GET RID OF THE GUNS![5]
Gun violence in America is an epidemic that has become so prevalent that it no longer attracts mass
media attention. There are gun suicides, gang related shootings, shootings during the commission of “ordinary” crimes, and
accidental deaths with firearms. Gun violence has become an accepted fact of life in twenty-first century America.
This should not be so!
Immediately following mass shootings, there is always a rush to hold vigils and leave mementoes where
the innocent victims died. These displays of grief have always proven to be meaningless in preventing the recurrence of
similar tragedies. After years of numerous gun violence tragedies, America - primarily America’s duplicitous
politicians - has done absolutely nothing to end the mass shootings of innocent Americans. Instead of taking the high road
and trying new and innovative approaches to ending the gun violence in this country, our cowardly politicians move their lips
while continuing to bow to the gun-loving crazies in our midst.
hasn’t the time long since passed to do something untried and bold that might actually stop, or at
least significantly reduce, the gun violence in this country? Isn’t it time to get rid of the
guns?[6]
One of the factors fueling the increase in mass shooting deaths is the easy accessibility to
military-grade weaponry that is the norm in our country.
So here we are in the year 2022, with multiple mass shootings in less than half of the year gone by.
Does anyone really care? If we do, why haven’t we done anything about it? Mass shootings and gun violence are not new in
America, and still the gun lovers have their way. There may be lots of talking by our politicians, but all that moves are
their mouths! I’ve made my suggestions on what to do, the most recent being less than a year ago in June of 2021. What I
wrote then and previously still holds true. Here’s a summary of what I said and proposed.
Universal background screening will help, but will not stop the mass shootings. What the
gun-crazies in America lobby for are more and deadlier guns on the streets of America. Arm the teachers, they offer
up as a solution. Give every good person a gun to defend himself from the bad people, the gun enthusiasts tell us.
They spout the totally unsubstantiated canard that, arming every American citizen will put an end to gun violence,
because then, the upright and honest gun owner will be able to defend himself by killing the armed and despicable criminals
among us. The fact is, that only in a statistically slim percentage of cases, do armed civilians actually help
thwart some sort of crime or act of violence. What these righteous firearms proponents won’t tell you is that,
basically no armed citizen has ever stopped a mass shooting!.
If you think more aggressive background checks will end mass shootings, you are totally naïve.
Background checks would not have prevented a single mass public shooter in recent history from obtaining
firearms. Would-be mass shooters rarely have disqualifying criminal or mental health histories - meaning, they
often can and do pass background checks when legally purchasing their firearms.
What I repeatedly have written remains true. Good people with guns haven’t been able to
put an end to mass shootings in America. But, bad people with guns have committed all the mass shootings here in
America.
While anecdotal evidence might make for compelling public relations, the statistics are very
clear: more guns equals more gun deaths. Which is precisely why so many other countries throughout the
world, admittedly unburdened by the 2nd Amendment, have taken effective action to regulate and control firearms.
Universal background checks and red flag laws are nothing but diversionary tactics intended to
distract honest people from insisting on the only practical solution to gun violence in America – Get Rid of the
Guns!
The calls for universal background checks and red flag laws are simply moves by NRA-beholden
politicians and gun-lovers to implement a feel-good move that will have little-to-no impact on gun violence in America.
The disingenuous gun owners and their supporters want to appear to be taking action to stop the mass shootings while actually
doing nothing of real significance to end the killings and maiming.
America is gun crazy. As of 2019, there were an estimated 400 million privately owned
firearms in the United States, with somewhere between one-third and one-half of American households owning at least one gun.
That's about 50 million more guns than the total population of these United States - men, women and
children!
Every time there is an attempt to institute meaningful gun control legislation and to end or, at
least, to reduce the number of gun deaths, injuries and mass shootings, the gun owners, the gun lobby, and the plain gun
nuts invoke the 2nd Amendment, as if it was some law engraved on tablets of stone that was handed down from God and which
is immutable, sacred and unchangeable. It’s time to refute such argument! The 2nd Amendment is no such
thing! It is simply an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. It was not even the first amendment
to the Constitution and, let’s remember that the U.S. Constitution was not even the first set of rules to govern the newly
independent Thirteen Colonies – the Articles of Confederation were! Also, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the
Constitution was designed to be amended, i.e., changed, and that amendments to the Constitution can and have been
repealed. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not sacred and it is not sacrosanct – it can be changed
and it can be repealed! The time has arrived when it must be repealed! This is the America of the 21st century
and not the 18th or 19th century.
Repealing the Second Amendment and enacting laws to get rid of the weapons on the streets of America
are the first two necessary steps to ending the senseless slaughtering of Americans with firearms. The remaining step
is the passage of laws to severely punish all illegal activity associated with the use, possession or trafficking of
firearms. The gun fanatics must be made to realize that sometimes citizens must give up certain perceived rights
in order to benefit society as a whole. Unless and until our politicians stop spouting their blather and rhetoric and get
serious about ending gun violence, the death toll from shootings will continue to spiral upward. We are long on
words and short on actions. We sympathize, we mourn, we remember and we make unfulfilled promises – but still, we do nothing!
For shame, America![7]
Here in America, people use guns to kill over 15,000 people a year, of which, some 3,500 are young
people. Guns injure another 28,000 each year. And these numbers keep climbing each and every year. This is the real national
emergency that cries out for immediate and decisive action on the part of our national
leaders.[8]
It’s now more than a decade since the Columbine shootings. It’s now more than 7 years since the Sandy
Hook Elementary School massacre. It’s now more than 3 years since 49 were killed in the Orlando nightclub massacre. It’s now
more than 2 years since 58 were killed in the Las Vegas Strip massacre. It’s now more than a year since the mass shooting at
the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It’s now more than a year since the mass shooting at the Santa
Fe High School. And, it’s now more than 6 months since 11 were killed in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
In the intervening years, what have we here in America done in response to that tragedy? What have we accomplished in the
struggle to end gun violence in America? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
BUT "within a month after 50 Muslim worshipers were murdered in two mosques in
Christchurch, New Zealand, NEW ZEALAND BANNED ASSAULT WEAPONS! NEW ZEALAND SHARPLY RESTRICTED ACCESS TO ‘VIRTUALLY
ALL’ SUCH WEAPONS BY RECLASSIFYING THEM TO REQUIRE A POLICE PERMIT — WHICH ‘WILL BE DENIED.’”
(Ref. 9) New Zealand’s politicians took immediate and effective action! Why can't
America’s?
The Uvalde massacre of 19 Children touched enough nerves to force our legislators in Washington
to appear to be taking steps to reduce the number of mass shootings in this country.
Around the middle of June (2022), group of senators announced a limited
bipartisan framework for gun reform in response to last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas,
marking a modest breakthrough for measured checks on ownership of deadly
weapons – though the proposals do not ban assault weapons or raise the age required to buy them to 21.
Despite the obvious limitations of the plans that would among other things
make juvenile records of gun buyers under age 21 available when they undergo background checks, and make it easier to
temporarily take guns from people considered potentially violent, any legislation passed would improve upon the stalemates
in Congress that have ensued after years of gun massacres.
President Joe Biden welcomed the deal and urged swift action, despite acknowledging its
weaknesses. “It does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in
the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades,” he said.
The “agreement in principle” appears to have the backing of at least 10 Republican senators, enough
to reach a 60-vote threshold in the chamber and overcome the filibuster. It has solid Democratic backing. Thousands rallied
for gun reform over the weekend in US cities. The parents of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old killed in the 2018 Parkland
shooting, said: “Our elected officials betrayed us and have avoided the responsibility to end gun
violence.”[10]
To anyone with a shred of intelligence and honesty, the obvious fact is: The proposed
legislation will do absolutely nothing to significantly reduce the number of gun deaths in the United States! The
proposed legislation will not get a single gun off the streets of America. It is one more example of politicians covering
their asses. They will claim that that have taken a major step toward eliminating the American gun crisis while making the
situation even worse by sweeping the problem under the rug while they hide behind the screen of legislation that would be
totally irrelevant and ineffective.
When our mealy-mouthed politicians talk about “tough gun control” they tend to mean bans on
“certain weapons” and “closing loopholes” in our totally ineffective laws. Neither action has had nor will have any
meaningful consequences. Even these ineffective actions typically include hedges, disclaimers and their own
loopholes, such as: this only applies to “certain kinds of weapons” or “certain kinds of ammunition”. They are nothing
but feel-good distractions designed to keep lethal weapons in the hands of gun-lovers and, unfortunately, also
in the hands of mass murderers and criminals.
After each seemingly more-frequent mass shooting, the magic words come forth - more and stricter
gun control laws! And just as in the past, the phrase more and stricter gun control laws is empty because it
can mean whatever the person spouting the phrase wants it to mean. To the gun fanatic, it means a toothless law that allows
him to keep and shoot his weapons. To the naïve, it is Nirvana – an end to gun violence – even though it is no such
thing.
The words, More and stricter gun control laws! are nothing but Trojan Horses that
have been constructed by gun lovers, their supporters, and the politicians that they have bought! Instead, it’s
time to hear the words – NO MORE GUNS!
As I said near the beginning of this article, I started railing against gun violence some seven
years ago. For those interested in what I have repeatedly written over that span of time, those writings are contained in
references
6, 11, 8, 12, 13,
14, 15, and5 which are listed below. How much longer will I
have to continue writing the same message??? How many more people will needlessly die or be injured in America with a
firearm?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
- 21 killed in Texas school massacre, Aya Elamroussi, Seán Federico-O'Murchú, Adrienne Vogt and Joe Ruiz,
cnn.com, 29 May 2022.
- Local Opinion: The Uvalde massacre: we hate when that happens, Brent Harold, tucson.com,
10 June 2022.
- Police Search for Gunman After Mass Shooting in New York Subway, Democracy Now,
13 April 2022
- Police: Man crashes stolen truck in Winthrop and fatally shoots 2, then is shot and killed by police,
Associated Press, boston.com, 26 June 2021.
- Gun Violence - 2022, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 525, 28 April 2022.
- Gun Violence Hits Home, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 484, 15 July2021.
- Man, 28, who shot and killed two black bystanders in Massachusetts after stealing a box truck and slamming it
into another car was 'fueled by white supremacy', DA says, Adam Schrader and Snejana Farberov,
DailyMail.com,
9 July 2021.
- For Shame, America!, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 350, 21 February 2019.
- It’s Time to Ban Guns. Yes, All of Them., Phoebe Maltz Bovy, The New Republic,
10 December 2015.
- First Thing: Senators reach bipartisan gun control deal after mass shootings, The Guardian,
13 June 2022.
- The Second Amendment in 2017, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 292, 1 June 2017.
- When it Comes to Mass Shootings, There are Doers and Then There are Politicians,
David Burton,
Son of Eliyahu; Article 318, 8 March 2018.
- When It Comes to Guns, It’s Business as Usual, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 319,
19 March 2018.
- The ONLY Way to End Gun Violence in America, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 339,
1 November 2018.
- America Obfuscates and New Zealand Acts, David Burton, Son of Eliyahu; Article 353,
8 April 2019.
|
|
