Latest gun mayhem provokes silence on gun control

In the republic's early days of sudden horrific gun violence, when we were young and impressionable enough to be shocked by such things, we settled eventually through trial and error into a familiar civic pattern: horror, outrage, pressure for gun control, counterpressure from NRA, then nada. With the latest horror show in Northern Illinois played out save for the sobbing of family members, I see a new pattern emerging that I first noticed after the nightmare at Virginia Tech: horror, outrage, then right to nada.

It seems the NRA and its minions have finally exhausted U.S. politicians and the body politic into an appalling abdication of moral responsibility on gun violence and its collateral damage. Call me crazy, but me, I still want to send my children to a school and not have to worry about some yahoo pulling out a Glock he bought the day before and shooting up the place. But most of us now appear completely resigned to these terrible outbursts even as they seem to occur more frequently.

I suppose there will always be a handful of liberal crybabies out there trying to ruin it for the guys working through whatever their issues are with a large caliber weapon. Here's one now: John E. Rosenthal, cofounder of Stop Handgun Violence, in the Christian Science Monitor.

"Current federal law allows an unlimited number of easily concealable handguns and military-style weapons to be sold privately in 32 states without a criminal background check or an ID. . . . You have to show ID to purchase alcohol or cigarettes. But if you want a Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle (capable of penetrating steel and taking out an armored vehicle from more than a mile) you need only to show up at one of 5,000 legal gun shows and fork over the cash – no ID or background check required! It is well documented that Al Qaeda, Hizbullah, and IRA terrorists have exploited this loophole in US gun laws to purchase military-style weapons from 'private sellers' at gun shows."

There have now been four school shootings in the United States since Virginia Tech, proffering a gruesome tally of 39 dead (including VT) and a score or so more wounded. The 2nd Amendment maximalists have already declared their willingness to endure any body count the rest of us are willing to put up with to protect their unconstitutional extention of 2nd amendment rights. Now a notion that first appeared as parody 35 years ago seems on the verge of becoming a cultural truism (and more evidence that life in the U.S. is finally escaping the clutches of satire). Call it the Archie Bunker defense of rampant American tom-gunnery. If everybody has a gun, we'll always be ready to protect ourselves from . . . er . . . everybody else who has a gun.

With and the NRA spending $22 million on congressional candidates in the last election cycle, I look forward to a new mourning in America, when every bar-brawl, alcohol-fueled domestic disturbance, and the odd car accident can be expected to disintegrate into a gun battle. Will the last person standing shoot out the lights on the way out?