As we all know only too well, 58 people were initially killed in that horrific Las Vegas mass shooting, with the death toll later rising to 59.
Single mass shootings, of course, become indelibly seared in our memories, much like Columbine and Sandy Hook.
But much of the bloodshed that occurs daily in America falls under the radar.
The daily drumbeat of gun deaths — dozens of them every day — is a national tragedy.
Only a tiny fraction of these deaths make national headlines, but that makes them no less devastating for the communities and families affected.
In Chicago, 58 people were killed by guns in a span of 28 days, counting back from Sept. 29, two days before the Las Vegas attack. In Baltimore, there were 58 gun deaths in 68 days. In Houston, there were 58 gun deaths in 118 days.
Evil in the form of guns comes to towns everywhere.
Happy faces at the Vegas concert were turned into death masks. That wouldn’t have happened if the killer didn’t have an arsenal in his hotel room.
All this needless violence wrenches your heart, percolates the bile in your liver, and makes you scream gun control.
Our society is steeped in raw violence, its moral compass cracked like an egg.
Too many lives in America are circling the drain because of the politics of guns in this country. Too many guns, too many dying.
Yeah, the gun nuts always say that the bad guys always will have guns, so we too need guns to protect ourselves.
That’s the answer? Let everybody pack? Pack a lunch and a Glock?
There always will be killers, mental cases and wackos out there. But they’ll kill a lot fewer people with their fists or knives than with guns.
Fewer guns, fewer killing fields.
Forbid the sale of assault guns in America and restrict their use to the military and the police. And we must do our best to caulk the ooze of black market artillery poisoning our land from overseas.
OK, hunters who need their killing fix need their rifles just like golfers need their clubs. But that doesn’t mean assault weapons should be sold in America. Deer don’t shoot back. A mere rifle will do just fine.
As a society, we’ve got too much blood on our hands. And it will never wash off. Hot lead shouldn’t be getting frequent flyer miles in a civilized society.
