Why America Can't Stop Mass Shootings...

...and why we shouldn't try. 

When mass murders using firearms take place in our society, a funny thing happens. There are usually two different reactions from our society and our government. In general the conservative side tends to blame the murderer while the more liberal progressives tend to blame the gun. Conservatives express sympathy for the victims and look into the motivation of the murderer to find what may have been done to prevent the tragedy. Progressives on the other hand seem to see every tragedy as an opportunity to advance one of their core issues- gun control. Gun control, or more specifically, eroding the Second Amendment with the eventual goal of rendering it useless or destroying it all together.

Some people will say I'm paranoid in this belief. After all Obama and Hillary Clinton keep saying they don't want to destroy the Second Amendment, just put in place some simple "common sense" gun laws. Right?

OK, now on to the title of this post- Why America can't stop mass shootings.

Comparing the U.S. with any other nation in regard to guns and crime is an apples to oranges situation. We are a nation of 350 million or so people from the most diverse backgrounds of any nation in the world. We have all the world's races and religions here along with all their various cultures, values, and belief systems. This diversity has created a uniquely American culture- One that has stressed self reliance and the belief that we all have the unalienable right to defend ourselves and our families from harm. Private ownership of guns by law abiding citizens is part of the core of American culture.

In our huge diverse population, maybe one or two people a year will use a gun to kill in a spree of 3 or more people- aka a 'mass' shooting. This is exempting criminals killing other criminals or acts of terrorism which I believe should not be lumped in the 'mass shooting' category. I'm talking about a lone gunman targeting innocent people. So that's one or two people a year out of 350 MILLION. Is it practical to expect law enforcement to monitor all of us to such a degree that they could identify potential killers and intercede in these cases?

When these events do happen, we need to view them with some perspective. In today's 24/7 news culture, where we can turn on a TV and get live video from almost anywhere in the world, events such as the most recent mass murder in Orlando can seem like an every day occurrence. They're not. The media microscope magnifies these events to the point where we tend to lose track of the big picture.

Viewing the recent Orlando night club shooting with a little perspective, 49 people were killed. A major tragedy, yes, but we also need to realize that EVERY DAY across the country on average more than 38 people are murdered. They were just separate murders in different areas. Also every day 28 people are killed by drunk drivers on the roads, 1500 people die from cancer, etc., etc. I could go on and on but I hope you get the point. Tragedy is a daily fact of life, but it's only the big ones that get the press coverage.

But something must be done, right?

Have your papers ready

The government can't legislate away evil in some people, nor should we want them to try.

Imagine the type of fascist police state we would need to live in for that to happen. It would be an Orwellian nightmare.

Unfortunately it seems many in our society are all too willing to trade our freedoms and constitutional rights away for that warm and fuzzy feeling of a false sense of safety.

You can pass as many laws as you want, even ban all guns outright, but you will still never get all of them. The fact is, all current and proposed new gun laws will do is impede law abiding citizens from getting them.

It's hard to quantify because stats aren't kept on crimes that don't happen, but there is substantial evidence that private ownership of guns saves hundreds if not thousands of lives a year and untold numbers of violent crimes are thwarted due to law abiding citizens being able to use them in self defense. Remember the old saying- "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

As for criminals and guns, just look at places like Chicago. They have the strictest gun laws in the country, but the south and west sides are awash in gun violence committed mainly by career criminals who have no legal means of buying guns. Yet they have them. Plenty of them.

Criminals simply don't obey gun laws.

We have to face the fact that in an open and free society as large and diverse as ours we must expect that some people will commit these atrocities on occasion. They will fly under the radar of law enforcement. Friends and family will not see it coming. No matter how vigilant we are at practicing the mantra of "If you see something, say something", it WILL happen.

We can either enjoy our rights and the freedoms we have today in America or trade them in for what would surely become a brutal authoritarian society in a very short time. In my opinion we are already well on the way to that scenario now.