Rants by Mac: We just keep shooting
First, I want to thank a highly astute reader who called me out on my last column, two weeks ago, catching a factual error. I mis-attributed a quote, and while the mistake did not affect the message I was trying to deliver, I appreciate someone catching my error. I hope he is still reading.
So, here is a quote that I just imagined (no attribution) from one of our 18th-century, very-quotable forefathers: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a musket, is a good guy with a musket.”
Fast forward 240 years.
The U.S., in the first half of May, soared past 200 mass shootings year-to-date, a little more than 10 per week. Last weekend, a church shooting in California got little news coverage, because it was overshadowed by the acts of an 18-year-old, angry, racist killer, who shot 13 people in a Buffalo grocery store, killing 10. He was captured before he could move to other targets.
After such an event, we go through the process. We condemn the killer, talking about all the trials of his childhood (although this killer was a child). Then we mourn the victims and empathize with families for their unbearable losses. Next, we pay tribute to those who tried to stop the assault before we affirm that “evil will not win” or “this is not who we are.”
Inevitably, we cry that something must change, before being told that it is too early to talk about change – we need time to grieve. Then, nothing changes, and we start again tomorrow. There is no time to grieve.
Bill Clinton said, after the 1999 Columbine shooting, that the survivors had “a chance to be heard in a way no one else can be heard.” He added, “You can help us to build a better future for all our children.”
Barack Obama, after the 2012 Newtown killings of 20 elementary children and six adults, said, “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this.”
Senator Chris Murphy said, after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, where 58 people died and 500 were injured, “The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something.”
Donald Trump, after the Parkland school shooting in 2018 (17 killed, 17 more injured), said “It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference.”
And, after the Buffalo shooting last weekend, Joe Biden asserted, “We must do everything in our power to end hate-fueled domestic terrorism. I promise you. Hate will not prevail.”
The U.S. suffered 636 mass shootings in 2021 (almost two per day). We are on a similar pace this year. Who can say this is not who we are?
Tuesday, in the wake of more mass shootings, President Biden announced plans to ask Congress to pass legislation so that mentally ill people cannot purchase guns. That’s the fix? Really?
Florence Yared, a survivor from the Parkland shooting, pleaded in 2018, “What we must do now is enact change because that is what we do to things that fail: We change them.”
So, have we changed them? Have we ended hate-fueled terrorism? Have we made a difference? Has Congress gotten off its ass and done something/anything? Have we built a better future for our children? Not yet.
This is a “Rants” column, not a “Solutions” column, so that’s the rant for now. I pray that someone has the solution, because we can’t always count on a good guy with a musket.
Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater and publishes columns on multiple Saturdays each month. All columns are tweeted (@curtmacrae). Send comments to rantsbymac@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Opinion
