We had another mass shooting in the news yesterday. This one (again by a homegrown white male) was in Thousand Oaks, California -- where the gunman killed 12 people (including a police officer) and wounded 10 others.
But make no mistake -- the mass shootings (where four or more people are shot) related on the national news are just a small part of the problem. The California mass shooting marked the 307th mass shooting in the United States this year. That is an average of about one mass shooting for every day of the year.
The politicians in Washington won't admit it, but the United States has a gun problem that no other civilized country has. We have a mass shooting on a daily basis, and each year over 30,000 deaths from guns (murders, suicides, accidents). This does not have to be. The problem persists because our politicians refuse to do anything about it (except to offer their ineffectual "thoughts and prayers").
In the election a couple of days ago, about 27 NRA-backed politicians lost their jobs. That's a start, but not nearly enough. While we could see a decent bill come out of the House next year (because the Democrats seized control there), that bill is sure to die in the Senate (where Republicans remain in control and have sold their votes to the NRA).
In short, nothing will be done in Washington until at least January of 2021 (assuming the Democrats win control of both the House, Senate, and the White House in the 2020 election). That means we are destined to have another 700-800 mass shootings (with thousands of deaths).
There is the blood of innocent people on Congress' hands, and they don't seem to care. It's shameful!
