In The Noise - February 16, 2018

Loaded Questions

After this latest high school mass shooting, in which 17 lives were needlessly lost, the cry once again goes out for gun control. 

But that leaves us with two very difficult questions:

1. How can "gun control" ever be accomplished? 

2. What is the real the cause behind these mass tragedies? 

To the first question, I answer, "I really don't see how". I'll explain why in a moment.

To the second, I can only sigh and observe, "our American soul is adrift".

By various estimates, there are anywhere from 270 million to 310 million guns in the United States — close to one firearm for every man, woman and child. 

Ironically, gun sales boomed during the Obama era, as the gun debate was pushed to the forefront. In 2016, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) published a report that said the gun industry had expanded by 158 percent during the eight years of President Obama's time in office. Some of this increase can be attributed to firearm-owning civilians boosting their arsenals, worried that they might soon lose the opportunity. But history has also shown that gun sales spike after a mass shooting; and tragedies like Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, and Orlando's Pulse Nightclub shooting occurred within Obama's two terms, steadily driving gun ownership upward. And, of course, it was Obama who eased restrictions and allowed the deadly bump stock to become commercially available. 

But let's put politics aside; let’s look at the dreaded semi-automatic AR-15 rifles, alone. As of 2016, The NSSF estimates there are roughly 5 to 10 *MILLION* AR-15 rifles owned in the United States, a small share of the roughly 300 million firearms owned by Americans. Five-to-Ten Million. Sadly, this horse is long out of the barn.

I agree that gun ownership is excessive and, yes, out of control. But gun owners are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, unregistered voters and illegal aliens. So this transcends politics. This is a deadly serious non-partisan national malaise. 

I just don't know what to do about guns.

But I do know that we need a dramatic change in our national psyche and soul. Isn't that where the core of our problems truly lie?

God Bless America.