After a brief pandemic lull, mass-murder shootings are back. Within a fortnight, 18 people were gunned down in Atlanta and Boulder. We gasp. We cringe. We lament. We rant. We implore. We mourn. And we move on, because gun trauma–from Colombine and Sandy Hook to Parkland and El Paso–is part of the fabric of American society. It’s an unconscionably perverted byproduct of our “freedom”-celebrating, cultural DNA.
It should be shocking that the NRA has more clout than Congress and most state legislatures. But it’s not; it’s just a dark part of American exceptionalism. We have more guns than Americans, and we don’t lack for rationales–starting with the Second Amendment–for packing heat, whether it’s to the movies, to a night club, to a school or to a massage parlor.
Speaking of the Second Amendment, “the right to bear arms” is sacrosanct. It’s not up for debate. It made sense back in the revolutionary day. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Overlook the stilted phrasing that begged an 18th century edit. A militia context was totally appropriate in 1791. But it can’t be a rationale for 21st century gun rights, let alone the private-citizen ownership of firearms that even the prescient founding fathers could not have imagined–such as assault weapons complemented by high-capacity magazines.
Maybe, we should be satisfied that bazookas and flame-throwers are still off limits for non-military use. Maybe that’s as far as public safety and common sense will take us—given that all-inclusive background checks, let alone AK-15 possession, remain politically partisan issues.
As for that Colorado shooter, too bad the “see something, say something” ethic wasn’t applied. Two days before the slaughter, a sister-in-law saw Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who already had displayed violent tendencies, playing with what appeared to be a “machine gun.” She said nothing. Some things you can’t totally blame on pandering politicians.