Like the Horror

People become more inured to the carnage with every new shooting. Sensationalism becomes the norm and videos are quickly dispersed worldwide. Debate our gun laws? Why would we want to do that?

It’s one of those Groundhog Day moments: Another day, another shooting in the United States. People die and Democratic politicians demand stricter gun laws.

After a man gunned down a reporter and her cameraman live on the air and then later turned the gun on himself while fleeing, Hillary Clinton tweeted that it was time to do something. The White House agreed, putting out a statement to that effect, while Walmart surprisingly announced it would no longer offer semi-automatic assault-style weapons for sale in its stores. Walmart’s official reason for the change was falling demand. With an estimated 300 million guns in private hands, everyone who wants one apparently already has one.

But nothing will be done – not in a year prior to a presidential election. Republicans, of course, deplore all the violence but won’t dare go up against the gun lobby. And the Democrats have their hands full trying to make Hillary Clinton electable.

What’s alarming is how much the shooter used social networking to stage his crime. He filmed it and posted the clip on Facebook and Twitter with the full knowledge that thousands would see it that way. He wasn’t disappointed. The shooter’s profile, meanwhile, is no longer online and his film is no longer so easy to find. Users watched the horror unfold as if it were a movie excerpt or a scene from a play and quickly clicked on the “like” button. Finished.

That, too, is the result of the repeated failure of politicians to regulate how guns are used, a failure which constantly ends in continued mayhem. Society becomes hardened to reality and sensationalism becomes the norm. What’s the big deal? This happens all the time. Oblivious social media users immerse themselves in the imaginary scene. Their consciences are just as easily and quickly assuaged with “liking” the twittered images of candles and flowers.

Their world is once again in order and they needn’t bother themselves with gun laws.