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The type of massacre
and tragedy that took place in Aurora is
something that seems to happen on a regular basis in America . And it has become so common that one can
write the follow up story knowing that the reaction will be both predictable
and futile. Here is what happens in the
aftermath of events like this.
- Politicians will decry the tragedy, express their sympathy for the victims and call upon all Americans to reflect about the events and to have sympathy for the victims. Some politicians will go to the scene, where they will accomplish absolutely nothing.
- Those in favor of gun control will call once again for gun control. They will state the obvious, that there is no need for any civilian to possess a semi-automatic weapon and that no, the Constitution does not guarantee every American the right to own such a weapon. They will be largely ignored.
- The gun lobby will proclaim that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Their political allies will argue how law abiding Americans should not be punished because of the lunatic actions of a few. The gun lobby will raise huge sums of money off of their cry that gun rights are under assault.
- A few gun nuts will call for laws requiring movie goers to carry concealed weapons when they enter a theater. Most people will think this is a joke and not realize the people proposing such a thing are sincere.
- Once the Olympics start no one will care or pay any attention to this tragedy, until the next one occurs when the four things above will repeat themselves.
Yes, on Judgment Day
the gun lobby will have a lot to answer for.
As a variation of points 3 and 4, I already saw a statement from a gun rights group that the cure for gun violence is for more people to own guns.
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable that anyone would suggest a massacre would have prevented if only some of the victims returned fire.
We live in the Age of the Slippery Slope. Government cannot impose any restrictions, no matter how reasonable, narrowly-tailored, or urgently needed, because any restriction signifies an inevitable march toward the total loss of rights. Hence the existence of arguments in favor of a right to own an assault rifle, and the acceptance of those arguments with a straight face.