The mass shooting merry-go-round

To the editor:

Another day, another mass shooting — literally. The senseless shooting in Minneapolis’ Annunciation Catholic Church on Aug. 27 was the 280th in the U.S. this year. Most mass shootings don’t receive the national attention this one has, and none of them seems to receive the attention of Republican legislators. Each shooting is met with condolences and crocodile tears, while yet another community is added to the growing list of those traumatized by gun violence.  Meanwhile, tomorrow is another day on America’s mass shooting merry-go-round; another shooting, more thoughts and prayers, another grieving town met with legislative inaction. 

President Trump sent troops to Washington, D.C., to “restore peace and end the violence.” Instead of making an ineffective and unwelcomed grand gesture, why not call for gun control measures? It’s a rhetorical question: Trump can’t do that. His party, the GOP, has carefully cultivated a rabid gun culture over the past half-century.  It is now a given that gun ownership is an unalienable right, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

That wasn’t always the prevailing legal and public opinion. For over 200 years, the Second Amendment linked gun ownership to “a well-regulated militia.” The Supreme Court turned that interpretation on its head in 2003, when it ruled in Heller v. D.C. that individual gun ownership was separate from militia service. This ruling, intended for home defense, took the slippery slope all the way to unrestricted access to assault weapons and open carry.

American citizens have to decide — do nothing and accept mass shootings as a necessary evil or demand meaningful changes. That decision is always on the ballot; vote for Republican indifference or say enough is enough and flip Congress and the presidency to the Democrats. It’s our choice. But as Spike Lee might say, “Do the right thing.”

Joseph Cannisi