Day 165

I think I've lost my ability to be outraged. I should be chew-through-steel angry right now but all I can muster is a shoulder shrug. Call me cynical, but it's simply not going to change much as I want that not be true. 

We needed the leadership of this country to make fundamental changes to our nation's gun laws a decade ago. Yet here we are, 9 1/2 years removed from the shooting at Sandy Hook that took the lives of 26 people, twenty of which were six and seven years old, with another elementary school shooting this time in southwest Texas. Today's contribution to America's gun violence epidemic. What a sad commentary on who we are as a nation. We should be ashamed of ourselves, our elected leaders and of our country. It's both pathetic and embarrassing. We cannot claim the high ground on the world stage as long as this continues unabated. 

The first step in fixing a problem is to admit that you have one. We, the United States of America and its people, are in denial. "Guns are not the problem. People are." Bullshit times infinity. There has been no meaningful gun legislation of any kind passed in this country since the Brady Bill following the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan in 1982. How many mass shootings have there been since then? Since Columbine? Since Sandy Hook? Since Parkland? 

What does make me really angry is the rank hypocrisy in Washington regarding the "safety of our children". Seeing our congressional representatives and senators galvanized into action when two or three children die over the span of a few months or a couple of years because of a defective stroller or because parents let their kids play unsupervised with lawn darts is insulting and galling given their collective inaction on gun violence. It's theater of the absurd. A grotesque comedy. I would welcome the representative or senator who just called it for what it really is: "Guns are where the money is so I won't act on behalf of the children as that would be a conflict of [clears throat] my interests." I would still think they are a terrible human being, but at least I could appreciate their candor. Today, I appreciate nothing about them. Literally nothing. They are dog shit on the bottom of my shoes. 

Here is a prediction that I am willing to put money on: Over the course of the next few weeks there will be a significant increase in gun sales and ammunition. Why? Because with a tragedy like today's there will be calls (again) for stricter gun laws and with it will come the irrational fear – likely stoked by the gun lobby – that guns will be outlawed outright. "Best to buy them now while we still can! Am I right?" Who wants to take this bet? [Sound of crickets chirping] Yeah, that's what I expected. 

Other predictions include the rise of another charlatan to replace Alex Jones who will again con the feeble minded into believing today's shooting at Robb Elementary was a hoax, staged by crisis actors to perpetuate liberal or, perhaps socialist (?) ideologies. There will be gun nuts throwing tantrums on TV like recalcitrant children decrying Joe Biden's and Nancy Pelosi's (completely fictitious) attempt to take away their toys guns. 

The sad reality and reason for my lack of outrage is that guns and gun violence are part of this nation. We know there are better alternatives, but at the end of the day guns are too important to our national and individual identities to mess with. It's who we are as a people. It's simply not going to change no matter how many children get put into body bags. About all we can change, because it doesn't take congress to make it happen, is how we incorporate this grim reality into our daily lives. 

As for me? I'm thinking of wearing a t-shirt that proudly states: "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, guns and dead children. God Bless Uhmerica and the 2nd Mendment!"