Guns

Why Don’t Americans Care About Children Being Shot?

Don’t tell me we care when we refuse to do anything about it

In this picture taken several years ago, my sister, Tracey, and I strike a pose during some target shooting at our dad’s cabin. We were taught to use and respect guns from an early age. I chose those photo to prove that you can be anti-gun-nut without being anti-gun. Author’s photo

Let’s get one thing straight: There is not one single thing we can do to stop these mass shootings.

But that doesn’t stop people from claiming otherwise. You name a problem, and you’ll hear 10 different answers of how we can fix it with a particular sledgehammer.

School shootings? There’s a simple answer!

If you’re conservative, pick one: Prayer in school, more spankings, more cops, more good guys with guns. Whatever.

If you’re liberal, pick one: More gun control, an annual psych evaluation for every gun owner, mandatory insurance for all gun owners.

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.”

— H.L. Mencken

Unless it’s actually a literal warzone, nowhere else in the world has anything like the shootings the U.S. has. That includes countries that are more or less religious. That includes countries with more or fewer guns. That includes countries with better or worse mental health care. We are absolutely unique in this.

Hey, we’re № 1!