My father used to talk about a movie he liked and watched repeatedly. (Or as repeatedly as could be done by a man who worked two jobs in the 60s.) He wanted, he said, to see if a certain train ever arrived late. He said this, of course, (I hope) tongue-in-cheek.
To expect something that keeps repeating itself to change is not realistic. To keeping doing the same thing — again and again, again and again — and expecting the results to be different is nonsense — perhaps it is even insane.
And yet, we — with each mass shooting that occurs in the United States — refuse to alter either our attitudes toward guns or the laws that regulate them.
We are wedded to the idea of the “minuteman” with his single shot musket defending his home and country.
We are wedded to the myth of the “cowboy” defending his farm, ranch and family from bandits, rustlers and Indians with a Colt six-shooter.
Today, a single individual can legally carry the equivalent firepower of a 1700s regiment.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Perhaps it is time to re-visit our Constitution. Perhaps it is time to amend the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution.
Aug. 1, 1966: Austin, Texas
– – –
July 18, 1984: San Ysidro, California
Aug. 20, 1986: Edmond, Oklahoma
Jan. 17, 1989: Stockton, California
June 18, 1990: Jacksonville, Florida
Oct. 16, 1991: Killeen, Texas
July 1, 1993: San Francisco, California
Dec. 7, 1993: Garden City, New York
March 24, 1998: Jonesboro, Arkansas
April 20, 1999: Columbine, Colorado
July 29, 1999: Atlanta, Georgia
Sept. 15, 1999: Fort Worth, Texas
Nov. 2, 1999: Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec. 26, 2000: Wakefield, Massachusetts
July 8, 2003: Meridian, Mississippi
March 21, 2005: Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota
Jan, 30, 2006: Goleta, California
Oct. 2, 2006: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania
Feb. 12 2007: Salt Lake City, Utah
April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia
Dec. 5, 2007: Omaha, Nebraska
Feb. 14, 2008: Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois
April 3, 2009: Binghamton, New York
Nov. 5, 2009: Ft. Hood, Texas
Aug. 3, 2010: Manchester, Connecticut
Jan. 11 2011: Tuscon, Arizona
Oct. 12, 2011: Seal Beach, California
April 2, 2012: Oikos University in Oakland, California
July 20, 2012: Aurora, Colorado, movie theater
Aug. 5, 2012: In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, at a Sikh Temple
Sept. 27, 2012: Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dec. 14, 2012: In Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School
July 26, 2013: Hialeah, Florida
Sept. 16, 2013: Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC
May 23, 2014: Near the University of California, Santa Barbara
June 17, 2015: Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina
Oct. 1, 2015: Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon
Dec. 2, 2015: San Bernardino, California
Feb. 20, 2016: Kalamazoo, Michigan
June 11, 2016: Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida
Jan. 6, 2017: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Oct. 1, 2017: Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov. 5, 2017: First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas
. . . perhaps.
http://abc7.com/worst-mass-shootings-in-recent-us-history/1382168/
http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_tower_shooting