Saturday, October 05, 2019

Continuance

If you keep track of such things, October 1st marked the two year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. I am not certain about the distinction of "modern U.S. history," but the news outlets and pundits seem attached to it, so I repeat it here. I also repeat the statistics: Fifty-eight people died. They were attending a concert in Las Vegas. Semi-automatic rifles were used to fire thousands of round into the crowd. The lone gunman was aided in his efforts by what America learned was a bump-stock, which allowed him to fire more rapidly.
The next morning, lines for blood donation in Las Vegas stretched for blocks with a wait time of six hours in some locations. The "president" insisted that "new laws won't stop a mad man." The bump-stock was banned on March 29, 2019. If you don't have a calendar handy, that was a year and five months after the shooting.
Colt has decided to stop selling AR-15s to civilians.
Some states have tightened "red flag" laws, enabling law enforcement to take weapons from individuals perceived as threats, aka mad men. 
Universal background checks?
Nope. 
Assault weapons ban?
Nope. 
Continued discussion of gun control?
Well, yes. After each new massacre. We wring our collective hands and attempt to turn up the volume on the Keep America Alive side of the argument, but somehow each new batch of victims goes to heaven without much more than the standard thoughts and prayers. A Democratic candidate for President announced on a nationally televised debate, "Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47," Beto O'Rourke said. "We're not going to allow them to be used against fellow Americans anymore." 
It should be noted that his voice was amplified after a mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. I pray that it doesn't take a mass shooting in every American city and town to bring about a substantive discussion that makes it safer to be an American. 

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