Reducing Mass Shootings

Another slaughter of innocents by a whacko gunman, this one in Las Vegas. I can hear the anguished outcries from families of lost ones, from outraged citizens who are sick of death by gun-wielding murderers, from politicians who want to be seen as empathetic, at least until the slaughter fades from the front pages. But haven’t we heard all that before multiple times? Remember Columbine High, Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and many, many others?

Obviously, crafting and implementing a workable solution to this problem has proven far too difficult for us as a society and a country. So, we have shrugged our collective shoulders and agreed that having guns available to every American is far more important than protecting the lives of innocents. Because that’s who we Americans are, gun obsessed people.

Some claim we can reduce mass shootings by writing effective laws that limit the scope of the Second Amendment, just as we have with the First and other Amendments. But I firmly believe the only way to address the problem is to repeal the Second Amendment, universally ban the sale and ownership of handguns and assault rifles, and regulate long guns and the sale of ammunition. Nothing short of that measure will be effective.

Failing that step, we should stop the public weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth when innocents are gunned down. It doesn’t reflect well on us. After all, we are the ones who allow these tragedies to happen.