We’ve given up. Surrendered. Oh, we make a big fuss about the mass murder in Aurora. The news is full of ‘human interest’ stories about the victims — this one saved that one’s life, that one just got married, this other one worked with disabled kids, and that one had a promising career. So very sad, so very tragic — and yet we don’t really care enough about these poor people to even have a serious discussion about gun control. The simple fact is, we’ve capitulated. To this guy.
James Holmes
We say we need to have a discussion about gun control, but we openly concede we won’t. Why? Because at this point in the history of our culture we just acknowledge the fact that mass murder is acceptable. We’re basically okay with the fact that every so often somebody will buy a butt-load of firearms, then armor up and walk into a place of business, a shopping mall, a fast food restaurant, a school and shoot the living shit out of as many people as possible. We’re not only okay with it, we’ll pass laws that make it more possible. Hell, we’ll even pass laws that allow folks to buy extra capacity magazines so we can keep the body count up.
Here’s a true thing: according to data published by the FBI, single-victim gun killings have dropped more than 40 percent in the last 30 years. Here’s another true thing: mass murder — the killing of four or more victims in a single related incident — has increased in that same period. In the last three decades there have been around a thousand mass murders, with close to 5000 deaths. That’s another four or five people killed in another mass murder every what, nine days? Those are just the fatalities; who knows how many are wounded? Who know how many end up permanently disabled or emotionally fucked up.
Still, it’s no big deal. We have something over 300 million people in the U.S. We can lose a couple hundred a year to mass murder and not even blink.
Could we do something about it? Sure. If we wanted to. But we don’t. Instead, we’ll continue to make it possible for kids to dye their hair red and dress up in ballistic armor and do their part to provide the media with all those great human interest stories.
gregfallis.com 
And the choir sang out AMEN!
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Well said, as always, Greg!
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What pisses me off the most (okay, maybe not the most, but it’s high on the list) is hearing people say “Now is not the time to have this discussion.” Bullshit, of course it’s time to have the discussion…or at least to begin a discussion. And this: “We don’t need new laws; we need to enforce existing laws.” Which is also bullshit, since the people who say that most often are the very people who make the existing laws weak and who make prosecution of those laws almost impossible.
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If we don’t discuss this NOW, then when ? Some how people said the same things after a congress woman and others in Arizona, after students at Virginia Tech and at Columbine. We said this, then did nothing, absolutely nothing, ever, except making this firepower more readily available to the next nutcase. . Doing NOthing is a political statement. The Tea Party has done nothing since 2010 except screw up our bond rating. The sad fact is doing NOthing promotes the stauts quo which is currently homophobic, aims to put women down, full of bigotry and hate and very much PRO gun. So don’t talk about “it” now and we might as well agree now that there will never be a right time to discuss putting a dent in the senseless killings, not this time and not the next ten times either.
Obviously telling the NRA where to go is part of any realistic problem solving effort.The NRA is not the only group with the capacity to threaten members of both houses with being voted out of office. Getting the major media outlets to concentrate on the vics. and withold the name and image(s) of the next mass murderer at least removes a quest for fame and public notoriety from the equation. Blaming parents who use TV and violent video games as day care tools wouldn’t be such a bad idea either. Taking all those dumbass staes below the Mason/Dixon line ( adding in Michigan and Wisconsin wouldn’t hurt) and letting them leave the Union to form DuhLand might at least reduce our sense of embarrasssment . The problem is, all of these causes together won’t fit on a bumper sticker and that’s what you need to reach the mindless dweebs who watch FOX news these days.
Here’s a new slogan, “We’ll be fair and balanced and you decide but NOW is NOT the time, It just wouldn’t be appropriate.” In fact, ” trust us at Rove News, errrr I mean FOX News, the only things that are appropraite to discuss right now are the repeal of Romenycare…eeeer I meant Obamacare, screwing people out of the right to vote, eeerrrr I really meant cutting down on statistically non-existent voter fraud, and preventing gays from enjoying a life sanctioned by the rattle snake handling preachers, eeerrr, I meant REAL Americans”..
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