Columbine. Sandy Hook. Virginia Tech. Now add Parkland to the list of schools in the United States that have endured horrific shooting incidents. Las Vegas, Orlando, Charleston — all communities too that have endured multiple mass shootings as law makers in America fail to deal with law breakers who have ready access to guns and ammunition under an archaic amendment meant to organise a militia to fight musket-bearing Red Coats. Now, the Eighth Amendment is used as a shield by political turn coats who are afraid to deal with the scourge of gun culture and the power of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Those of us who live outside America wonder how is it possible for a person to have ready access to weaponry that was designed for the battlefield, not the schoolyard? How is it possible for a teen to amass hundreds of rounds of ammunition and multiple magazines without a second thought? And where are the priorities of all levels of government, from Washington DC down to Broward County in Florida, where the latest tragedy occurred on Wednesday, that ties itself in knots over withdrawing health care from many millions, yet protects those who still believe it is perfectly normal to be armed to the teeth?
This right to bear arms has once again bared the pain and suffering of so many innocents.
The NRA will smugly say that guns don’t kill people. What they won’t say are that people with guns, people with easy access, people with any issues, people with illnesses, and people with anger, have too easy access to too many guns in too many states — to kill too many people.
