Yet Again
This time, the mass murder committed by someone who should not have had access to weapons is more than a news item for us. One of the victims was a long time next-door neighbor. He was an exceptionally nice man, with three young daughters and a wife who are now left to fend with life as best they can in the aftermath of what we all wish were an unimaginable event. Unfortunately, in the U.S., it’s more common than unimaginable. For Julia and me, this means that we will be going to a memorial service instead of just reading headlines. For his family, the events of last Monday were, at a very basic level, life changing.
I was moved to put down some thoughts by a headline in the New York Times this morning: “Suspect’s Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm.” That past included numerous psychiatric events, and a couple of incidents in which the murderer was charged with “firing a gun in anger.” Anger, as opposed to joy, one assumes.
The reason this prodded me was what I am sure is to come, and which in fact is already underway on what we in the DC area not so affectionately call “The Hill.” The immediate question that is getting most play seems to be, “how did he get a clearance to be on a military base?” This begs the question: would it have been better in any way if he had killed twelve people at a Starbucks or at the National Rifle Association headquarters? The real question here is not background checks, although that is what will be pursued quickly by our lawmakers. The real question, as asked to me by a friend just after the killings, is whether this country will ever rise above its culture of gun violence, or its basic culture of violence. In a country where we glorify violence from Sunday afternoon football to every imaginable popular culture outlet, what do we expect we are going to get when we turn everyone loose with weapons?
The NRA won’t admit that we have a culture of gun violence or that most of the guns in this country are not owned by hunters. Congress will not confront the NRA and its lobbyists on any issue tougher than upgraded background checks for Federal employees. The constitutional lawyers who favor gun rights will continue to debate the framers’ intent and interpretation of rights. And the vocal ranks of gun lovers will ignore the impact of making guns available, and will continue the time-honored American pastime of scoffing at pointy-headed academics who produce studies indicating that we have a fundamental problem related to the way we depict and discuss issues related to violence.
It would be comforting on some very minor level if the gun champions would admit that the political success of their positions results in people being killed. But I think the fact that they won’t is just as predictable as the coming of the next mass murder.
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When I posted the above, little did I know how quickly the next mass murder would occur – I happened to be in Chicago when the news of the shooting there broke. The clock is ticking for the next one . . . . .