Two Auroras a Day

“Stars and Stripes” at half-mast, consolatory words from the president, hypocritical expressions of condolences from the gun lobby: After the attack on a Sikh temple in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the American nation once again engages itself in the typical, macabre routine of dealing with mass murder. As always, the gun lobby does not have to be afraid of any possible consequences. U.S. politics are chicken-hearted, and each new dead person sees accusations of denied assistance.

The United States experiences the same spectacle again and again. One day, 32 students lie in their own blood (Virginia 2007), another day it comes upon six innocents in front of a supermarket (Arizona 2011) or twelve moviegoers at midnight (Colorado 2012). And now, only 16 days after Aurora, six Sikhs perish in the little town of Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

The nation demonstrates its grim ability to deal with the mass murder: People look into the televised faces of the desperate bereaved, reporters asseverate their commiseration, politicians express grief and horror. Subsequently, the president carries out his duties: he lets the “Stars and Stripes” above the White House fly at half-mast, and finds, once again, meaningful words regarding senseless violence. That comforts – until the next massacre.

However, the following is also a component of the routine: Taking advantage of the same wording, the National Rifle Association feigns phrases of condolence in order to then forthrightly warn against “misusing” the victim’s suffering and reconsidering harsher laws against the notorious armed violence in the country. And voila, the fulmination has made an impact: Indeed cries for more severe regulations can be heard, but for ten years politics have demonstrated [these cries to be] powerless.

The president asks for a minute’s silence – and does nothing more.

Hardly any congressman, and least of all a president, has the heart to control the access to the assassin’s tools more strictly. That also applies to Barack Obama. The president asks for a minute’s silence and thereafter does nothing more.

Every day, 24 people in the United States are murdered with a firearm. That equals, statistically, one dead person per hour. Or two Auroras every other day. The peril of being shot in the U.S. is six times as high as in Western Europe. A consortium of mayors calculates that within the next president’s quadrennial tenure of office, a total number of 48,000 citizens will die because of armed violence. And still, not one of the two candidates can bring himself to formulate a vague proposition on how to stop the bloodshed.

There are reasons for this circumstance, true and untrue ones. It is a fact that the American Constitution grants each citizen the basic right to “carry and possess weapons.” Likewise, it is correct that the Supreme Court quite recently has interpreted this privilege in a yet unprecedented, generous manner – and that by now a narrow majority of the population rejects stricter laws.

Fear of Gun Lobby’s Anger

Nevertheless, even conservative judges acknowledge that the Constitution very well does permit a reformation of interdictions, such as those that were in force from 1994 to 2004; back then, automatic rifles (similar to those utilized by the Batman killer) and mega magazines with more than ten rounds (auxiliary devices used by the gunmen of Tucson and Aurora) were prohibited. Surveys reveal that even a majority of the four million NRA members would support giving firearm licenses only to fellow human beings who are verifiably neither criminal, nor addicted to drugs, nor mentally disturbed.

Notwithstanding, nothing happens, and that is a consequence of a deceptive myth: for twelve years the American democrats – leading the way – live in fear of attracting the omnipotent NRA’s anger. Indeed, studies prove that the gun lobby’s power is far more marginal than suspected. But since the defeat of Al Gore in 2000, Obama’s party gazes at the NRA in a stance of defensive immobility and freezing-like behavior – like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.

During the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, three thousand people lost their lives. Therefore, the United States went to war, twice. The nation disavows it, but every year, three times as many people succumb to the lethal potency of 300 million firearms in the country. Laws alone are by far incapable of salvaging all victims. But if only a few…

And each dead man is a prosecution’s witness to America’s cowardly policy – the failure to assist.