Where mental illness really lies in gun debate

It used to be that you would turn on the news to see what the weather is for the day. Now, we see a school shooting in this country about as often as we see the weather report.

The latest was Michigan State, but before then it was Uvalde, Sandy Hook, and all of the other cities identified with having mass shootings take place.

Our cowardly Republican politicians are elected to protect us, to serve us, but with scores of mass shootings so far this year, they are absent and suffering from dereliction of duty. The usual prayers go out, blaming it on mental illness, but this only happens in our country and is an American problem.

America currently has more than 400 million guns, more than one for each citizen. The mental illness argument that the National Rifle Association and the political right push seems to imply even more strongly that we should restrict access to guns.

They watch the Super Bowl and stand for the national anthem, salute our flag, support our troops and veterans who protect our nation, but will they protect us from all of the shootings in our country? The Republicans and Fox News are so worried about wokeness, and our borders being protected, yet they ignore the obvious dangers of gun shootings that kill more Americans than either of the other two.

Maybe, possibly, there is a mental illness problem in this country. Maybe it is the politicians who are mentally ill, those who vote against gun laws and restrictions on getting an automatic rifle. And maybe the people who vote them into office are also mentally ill with their fascination with guns. When will the madness end?