They Have What They Deserve

The people of the United States deserve all the weapons in the world. Yes sir. Who are we — citizens of “shithole countries,” as Donald Trump would say — to deprive them of their favorite toy? Who are we to remind them that, given the fact they have as many guns as residents, the probability of dying of a gunshot wound is brutally high? Who are we to make their lives bitter with the information that every 15 minutes, someone in the United States dies of a gunshot wound?

Thanks to the right to bear arms, contained in the Constitution and defended with ardor by the Republicans (after they cash their checks from the National Rifle Association), Nikolas Cruz gave himself a semi-automatic rifle when he became an adult.*

Thanks to the Floridians, who having deposited their confidence in Republican control of their state legislature, the state was able to pass laws like the one that allows someone to buy guns at 18 years of age but requires someone to wait until reaching 21 to buy tobacco** and alcohol.

There is still more. Thanks to Trump who won the election (Trump being an ardent defender of the free sale of guns), the requirement that gun shops examine whether the purchaser has mental health issues was eliminated a year ago February.

If the voters of Florida had given the triumph to the Democrats in that state, the president of the U.S. at this moment would be Hillary Clinton, and the meager arms control that Obama did achieve would never have been eliminated. If that had occurred, the information that Nikolas Cruz had been expelled for violent behavior would not have been removed from background available to gun stores, and, for that reason, he wouldn’t have been able to legally buy the gun with which he murdered 17 of his classmates.

Just for eliminating that control alone, Trump should be judged and condemned. Instead of that, he says that the problem is not nonexistent gun control, but that guns fall into the hands of the mentally ill. He should be reminded that there are disturbed individuals (among whom he certainly is) everywhere, but the difference is that in the other nations there is no access to guns, and for that reason, the epidemic of shootings that the U.S. suffers does not exist.

So, I echo the wise counsel given to Trump by a student of the school that was attacked: “I don’t want your condolences you fucking piece of shit … Gun control will prevent it from happening again.” And, here is another piece of advice, for that student and the rest of her compatriots: If you truly want to eliminate this scourge, begin by not voting for those who defend guns; if you do not, you will continue to have what you deserve.

*Editor’s note: The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides: “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.”

**Editor’s note: The minimum age to buy tobacco in Florida is 18.