Americans are voting in November. One issue that you are pretty much guaranteed to hear almost nothing about is gun control.

Americans love their guns, and, on what seems like a regular basis, someone with a grudge will take one of those guns and shoot several innocent people. I think such incidents happen more in the USA than the rest of the world combined.

I wrote today’s post in February 2018, but didn’t get around to sharing it with you until today. Given that this is an election year, it seems appropriate. 

Sometimes it is better to let things percolate rather than shoot my mouth off in light of current events. That’s one of the reasons I have remained silent on the latest mass shooting in the US.

Last week’s rampage at a high school seems to be hitting people hard. There has been a lot of anguish and soul searching in America. At the risk of sounding cynical, I have come to the conclusion that all the wailing and gnashing of teeth will be to no avail. There will be no changes to American gun laws and there will be more multiple murders of children.

There is an old joke: how many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? The answer: one. But the light bulb has to really want to change.

In recent years there has been mass shooting after mass shooting in the USA, so many that you could argue that such incidents are now the norm. After each event there is hand wringing and vows that something must be done. It seems as if nothing is ever done.

The rest of the world has already drawn the obvious conclusion: this is America. America as it is now is the America its people want. If mass murder was really seen as a problem then something would have been done about it. Since nothing is done, then Americans must like the status quo.

I’ve heard the arguments for inaction. I’ve heard that the National Rifle Association wields extraordinary power on the political scene. If the NRA opposes you, you won’t be elected.

That wouldn’t be true if politicians didn’t allow themselves to be bought. If men and women of principle were to stand up to lobby groups detrimental to society and show some leadership and guts, the NRA would soon lose its influence.

A leader is someone who epitomizes what is best (or worst) about your society. In electing spineless politician after spineless politician, the American people are voting for the status quo. They are voting for more school shootings.

Will things change because of last week’s incident? I doubt it.

Since I wrote that post in 2018, 44 people have been killed in shootings at American schools. I guess nothing has changed.