Stop making damn things
Deck the halls with guns and ammo. While the rest of us were out buying Samsung TVs, PlayStations and “Star Wars” toys, a unique group of bargain hunters were out getting the best deals on firearms. Black Friday has a whole new meaning. The FBI said it processed a record 185,345 background checks for potential gun purchases Friday or around two checks a second, according to reports.
It’s not clear how many guns were bought because background checks don’t always result in purchases.
Still, the thought of even one more gun under a Christmas tree’s blinking lights and candy canes is enough to make you spike your eggnog.
In an age when it seems you can get a gun from a vending machine or free with a gas station fillup, it is good to see background checks taking place.
But even background checks are hardly comforting when we know legal guns are just as effective when someone wants to open fire at a church, a college campus or a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Add to the list a center for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino, Calif., where at least 14 people were fatally shot on Wednesday. Enough. No more. No more shootings. No more Second Amendment debates. No more guns. That’s right, no more guns. Just. Stop. Making. Them.
According to the Congressional Research Service, there are already more guns in the United States than there are people.
Surely the evildoers can continue to create carnage with the guns already in supply.
“There are a slew of things we can do to offset these arsenals that people are building in their homes,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a gun control advocate and former NYPD captain.
His list includes a moratorium on new guns, and a provision to make bullets more expensive. Meanwhile Adams has stopped blaming lawmakers for the lack of movement on gun control. He blames the public.
Unless we live near or know somebody in Sandy Hook, or Planned Parenthood, or Umpqua Community College or Columbine or Aurora or Mother Emanuel church, we don’t take this seriously enough.
Oh, we’ll watch the endless cycles of news, and the footage of scared children running across a parking lot. But tomorrow we’ll be back at the Walmart, or the gun show or wherever we go with our firearm loyalty cards and add to our collection.
Who do we blame for that?