Reich writes: "Wednesday's attack at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed, was the eighth school shooting this year that has resulted in death or injury. And, remember, the year began less than 6 weeks ago."
Robert Reich. (photo: unknown)
When Will This Nation Wake Up?
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ednesday’s attack at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed, was the eighth school shooting this year that has resulted in death or injury. And, remember, the year began less than 6 weeks ago.
According to local police, the Florida shooter was armed with an AR-15 assault-style rifle. It’s the same type of gun that another shooter used to kill 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in December, 2012. The AR-15 assault rifle fires bullets that can penetrate a steel helmet from a distance of 500 yards. The bullets don’t merely penetrate the human body; they tear it apart.
Why are such weapons allowed to be manufactured and purchased in America? I have always assumed that the minimal responsibility of government is to protect its citizens from deadly violence.
Law and order, safety and security, is the bedrock campaign slogan of the Republican Party. Yet, as John Cassidy points out, when it comes to mass shootings, the Republican Party falls back on constitutional arguments that have no proper basis in history, and it refuses to budge from this stance. Nothing can shift it—not Sandy Hook, not the Orlando night-club shooting, not the Las Vegas massacre, not weekly shootings in schools. The Democrats have not been without fault when it comes to controlling gun violence, but the GOP’s lack of integrity on this issue is beyond the pale.
The crisis is getting worse. When will this nation wake up? What do you think?
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