Another Mass Shooting—But Who’s Counting Anyway?

Apparently, the whole world is but there is one exception; THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

It’s always the same pattern.

Some sicko runs around hotels, nightclubs, or schools, often with legally purchased semi-automatic firearms, taking out innocent people left, right, and center, sending the world into shock and anger. We tweet out our condolences, we go on social media rampages against the gruesome act of violence and politicians say what needs to be said. Left vs. Right. Democrats vs. Republicans. Everyone is blaming everyone and then…(crickets)… (tumbleweeds)… nothing…

Yes, a whole lot of nothing.

Everything remains the same. We say our peace and move on to the next one. And there will be a next one. There will be one after that one too. And most likely another one shortly after.

2018 is barely four months old, and mass shootings in the US are about to hit double digits (depending on the source, we are way past that). But numbers aren’t important because everything greater than 0 is one too many. The shootings won’t stop and neither will the demand for tighter gun laws even though lawmakers and lobbyists blame mental health and shitty parenting rather than the lack of gun control for the hundreds of lives lost. America sends people to the moon, is home to some of the most elite Universities but yet doesn’t comprehend the correlation between firearms and gun laws (or the lack thereof).

America doesn’t seem to see what Australia saw when the government banned all rapid-fire guns in 1996 after a mass shooter blew up 35 people with a semi-automatic weapon in Tasmania (Australia hasn’t had a fatal mass shooting since). America also seems to be immune to the fact that over in the land of the rising sun, gun-related deaths just don’t really happen. Why? Well, among cultural reasons, Japan has some of the toughest gun laws in the world.

You can spin and twist it any way you want, but stricter gun control works. The chances of a 19-year-old kid walking into a school with a legally purchased AR-15 assault rifle and taking out 17 innocent lives in the process would be significantly lower if he had to attend an all-day class, pass a written test, achieve at least 95% accuracy on the shooting range and pass a background check, mental health examination, and an interview every three years before he can even dream of buying a gun.

But the real argument we all should be having isn’t about stricter laws and if they will or won’t work but the fact that mass shootings are a “business decision.” Let’s be honest; Mass shootings are good for business! They make some people very rich – and the more mass killings we are going to have, the more pockets are going to be stuffed with dirty, blood-stained lobbying money. “Business is booming,” and 17 lives lost, denial and manipulation is a small price to pay when the National Rifle Association can make you a wealthy man! I’m sure Florida Senator Marco Rubio can vouch for it since he has “3.3 Million good reasons.” to do so – Like I said, “Business is Booming.”

To every lawmakers, politicians, and lobbyist; Parkland, Vegas, Orlando: That’s on you! All the previous shootings, as well as all future ones, will too be on you because it’s not just about the one who pulls the trigger but about the ones who let it happen again and again.

I don’t give a crap what the NRA pays you.

The right to walk down the street, dance the night away in a nightclub or study at school without having to fear for your life should be worth far more than every goddamn cent Gun Rights Interest Groups spend on endorsements.

But then again, nothing ever changes and this is just another article about another mass shooting but who’s reading anyway?