There is another mass shooting making the national news. This time it's in a private christian school. A 15-year-old girl killed a teacher and a fellow student and injured several others before killing herself
I'm sure the congressional Republicans will send another truck load of thoughts and prayers, but that won't help those shot and it won't prevent other school shootings or mass shootings in the future. But they will do nothing to help prevent the deaths of innocent children and adults.
If we just look at the mass shootings (where at least four people have been shot), it might look like these shootings don't happen very often. But that is not true. Mass shootings did decline slightly this year, but they still average about 1.34 for every day of the year (according to the Gun Violence Archive). In any other developed country that would be unacceptable - but not in the United States.
U.S. politicians (mainly Republicans) have decided that its more important for criminals and other dangerous people to have access to the gun of their choice than to save innocent lives.
Meanwhile, a majority of the public would like to see stricter gun laws, and an overwhelming majority want to see the loopholes in the background check law closed - so criminals, terrorist sympathizers, abusers, and the dangerous portion of the mentally ill cannot buy or receive a gun.
Republicans claim they are protecting the right of Americans to own a gun. But no one is trying to deny any law-abiding citizen from purchasing or possessing a gun. We just want to make it harder for dangerous people to get one.
Republicans will also try to claim this teenage girl had mental problems. That doesn't really matter. The one thing she had in common with all other mass shooters is access to a gun. How and where was she able to get a gun?
It doesn't have to be this way. We shouldn't be leading the developed world in both mass shootings and gun deaths. But until voters get serious about preventing the shootings and deaths (instead of just offering "thoughts and prayers", it will keep happening at epidemic levels.
Politicians who want to protect the right of dangerous people to get a gun should be voted out of office.