In the Middle East? Kashmir? Venezuela? North Korea, maybe? How about Iraq or Afghanistan?
Nope.
Right here in the good old U.S. of A. (See this.)
This is not "fake news." There have been more than 250 separate shooting incidents in which four or more people have died of gunshot wounds (other than the shooter) in the first 250 days of 2019.
An abundance of accusations are flying around, of course. Left-leaning folks are wont to blame Mr. Trump for the incredible increase in violence that this represents. Frankly, it's hard not to draw some parallels between his rhetoric and the increasing frequency with which human beings have taken to firing often military-rifle-style semi-automated weapons at their fellow citizens.
Although it might be true, in one sense, that a gun itself can kill no one (a classic stance of NRA fans), the opposite is also true and far more to the point: A killer without access to a gun like those used in Las Vegas and more recently in El Paso cannot kill with such great efficiency, and more importantly, might not be nearly so tempted to try it, if it weren't for the lure of such firepower in the first place.
Resistance to a ban on "assault" weapons remains high. But there's precious little logic behind it. Certainly, it is difficult to make the case for the average citizen's need to possess such a weapon. One politician, who shall remain nameless, actually had the temerity to make his case based on the need to have a AK-47 handy in case looters attacked his home during a disaster of some kind. Well, there's that Make America Great Again confidence in our country exposed for what it really is — a thin cover for abject fear.
The American right-wing lives in terror that people, if given the slightest opportunity, such as the momentary interruption of the daily and routine workings of the law-and-order machinery they cling to and prize so highly, will see their neighbors turn on them, and they'll have to bar the door and trust their ammunition won't run out. Thus, those bumper stickers: "You'll get my gun when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers." Despite the evidence of history, they cannot believe that neighbor might help neighbor. That disaster might spur love and sacrifice in a time of want and pain.
Such a jaundiced view of humanity is inconsistent, given that those well-armed folks insist that those same people they fear, who they believe will turn on them if they're not armed to the teeth, should also have unrestricted access to those same weapons of efficient bloodletting. It's a setup for disaster on a scale little short of the Civil War. And if you think that's an exaggeration, consider that there are more than 2,000 "militias" have been identified by the F.B.I. across the U.S. that have formed to deal with just such a reality. And that's just the ones the government knows about.
Folks who insist on their assault gun or death aren't patriots. They're mere survivalists. They have no confidence in America's future. Certainly, they don't expect Greatness. They're betting on merely outlasting their neighbors, not living with them into a better, safer tomorrow. And as long as that is the case, and we have a President who thinks that sort of "base" is the group that can help him lead us where we need to go? We can expect more of the same.
