WTH

 "What the hell is wrong with us?"

This was the question Governor Gavin Newsom asked this question to a group of reporters as he addressed the killing of nine people in San Jose. To be clear, the Governor of California was not just referring to that bunch of mediots, or himself, but all Americans. When he spoke last Wednesday, he was talking about the sixty-eight mass shootings in the United States over the past two months. If you had "more than one a day" on your gun violence Bingo card, congratulations. 

Or maybe we could take Governor Newsom's question as something more than rhetorical. What is wrong with us? Each time an American is killed by a gun, we look for answers and come up short. I say this because for the most part, no one seems to take the vow of "never again" very seriously. What is wrong with us?

We tolerate the murders of the innocent. First graders. Children caught up in their parents' custody disputes. Road rage that culminates in the death of a passenger strapped into a car seat for their protection. These kind of incidents are not freakish, they are the nightly news. So much so that we need to clarify at times to which murderous rampage we are referring. "Oh, that one. With the crazy guy with the gun." 

Right. 

And our national response has been outrage, followed by a discussion of the Constitution. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of the Second Amendment. What the hell is wrong with us, indeed. 

Down in Texas, the most recent legislative move on guns was to allow its citizens to openly carry weapons of mass destruction without a permit, background check or training. In our current climate, how can this be seen as anything but inciting violence?

What is wrong with us? We don't like each other. You would have to search hard in your history books to find a time in the U.S. when we were this divided. We have made a sport of arguing about wearing protective face coverings during a global pandemic. And don't look at our elected officials for guidance. They are often the ones acting the most ridiculous and making the most bizarre pronouncements. 

What is wrong with us? We are letting a small group of financially influenced lawmakers plot our course. An overwhelming number of gun owners support expanded background checks and other similar "common sense" gun legislation. And yet, that roaring silence you hear is coming from Capitol Hill, where the fear seems to be more about not being elected than another mass casualty event. 

Whatever it is that is wrong with us, I hope we can figure it out before we end up getting shot.