America's Slow Dance with Death

Photo by AK Rockefeller (Courtesy of Flickr)

“The Deadliest Mass Shooting in U.S. History”– that was the headline in yesterday morning’s news reporting the shooting in Las Vegas. The sad thing is that we have seen that headline before. The numbers just keep getting larger. Every time there is an incident, the cries go out that something must be done, yet we seem incapable for finding a remedy. For some reason we appear to be in a long slow dance with death, unwilling to loose ourselves from its grip.

Living with Guns

I have written many essays on this blog speaking out against gun violence. Two examples are “Guns and the (Dystopian) State,” and “The Fires of Molech are (Still) Burning.” Reasonable people across the country have spoken out against the senseless shootings that we see, yet our congress remains paralyzed.

When President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court during his last year in office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s response was quite telling. He said that the Republican majority would not confirm any Supreme Court Justice nominee without the NRA’s approval. Herein lies a problem, that our government is hamstrung by the NRA.

Last year, The Guardian published a five-series on gun violence in America that is worth noting:

• Can the US break its cycle of gun control failure?
• America's gun problem is so much bigger than mass shootings
• The uncomfortable truth about gun rights supporters – sometimes they are right
• Changing the Conversation

In the second article in the series, The Guardian points out that though mass shootings get the most attention, they are not the greatest problem. “The US could end all mass shootings today,” the writer states,  “and its rates of gun violence would still be many times higher than other rich countries.”

Doing What We Can

I don’t know the source of the following letter, but it has been shared on Facebook as a template for writing your congressmen to urge that the legislative body do something to curb gun violence.  

This morning's news brings the latest US gun tragedy. 50 Americans are dead and 200 more hurt in the 273rd mass shooting so far this year. The killer was not a foreign terrorist, but an angry white American man with easy access to weapons. He was locked in a hotel room with his guns. No "good guy with a gun" in the crowd could have saved the lives that were lost.

It was likely the sound of gunfire that alerted many, probably saving the lives of those who were able to scramble to safety. Two bills moving through the House would lift restrictions on gun silencers, legalize sale of armor piercing bullets, and strip from States the right to make their own laws regarding concealed weapons by allowing people from States with lesser restrictions to legally carry across State lines. These outrageous proposals will make it even easier for those so inclined to attack and kill your constituents.

The nation's lawmakers must stop kowtowing to the NRA. No amount of campaign contributions or election pressure is worth the continued, senseless loss of lives. Please vote against these measures, and begin to work instead to strengthen laws to improve safety and protect Americans from gun violence.

Why are we unable to break this stranglehold of gun violence? Finding our way back from this death-making dystopia should be our continued resolve.  



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