I read one of the many articles about the most recent shooting at Santa Fe High School (ten wounded, ten dead). One of them said that it was the worst mass shooting since Parkland. Parkland was three goddamn months ago. Calling it the worst shooting since Parkland means that there have been others. I think that the article I read said there have been 10 school related shootings since Valentine's Day. That's 10 other shootings in 3 months.
How are we okay with this? Because, as a nation, we clearly are.
Other nations aren't.
Australia is a fantastic example of this. In 1996, the Port Arthur Massacre happened. 35 people of all ages died. It was horrible. The Australian people were appalled. The difference between US and Australia? Austria fucking acted. The National Firearms Agreement was passed TWELVE days after the massacre. There was a huge problem that allowed this sort of mass shooting to take place, and they acted. Instead of people dying at school, at movie theaters, at concerts, at any other place imaginable, their government decided to make sure they did everything they could to make sure it couldn't happen again. Gun activists like to talk about how laws won't stop criminals from breaking the law. Fair point, but there was a shooting this year in Australia in which seven people died - this was the deadliest shooting since Port Arthur. That can't be a coincidence.
The Onion No Way to Prevent This article honestly sums it up. The same things happen over and over and over again. The news comes out that there was a shooting. We don't know how many people were hurt or died - then we find out it was a lot. Second amendment nutjobs show up on social media and talk about how guns aren't the problem, people are the problem.
They're right about one thing: people are the damn problem.
What have we done since Parkland? What will we do after Santa Fe?
We don't have to live like this. We don't have to die like this. But apparently we will.
No comments:
Post a Comment