Stupid

My stepdaughter met her husband here in Calgary, when both were working for Hyatt Hotels.  Problem was, he was a Texan and once a Texan, always a Texan because as I have often said, "There are Americans and then there are Texans."  So what did he do?  Moved her to Houston, Texas, where they settled and had two children, now in a sitting-duck elementary school in Houston and in danger, in my opinion.  That was stupid.

Today, the 51st school shooting since 2013 in the US happened, ramping up the killings to 88.  There have been 119 school shootings in the past four years.  Guns are now the no. 1 cause of death for children in that country.  There have been 213 mass shootings in the US so far this year and since Sandy Hook in 2012 there have been 3,500.  Thirty-five hundred!

This is insane!  What family does stepdaughter have in Houston?  Zero.  Had they stayed in Calgary, they would have had B, me, her stepsister, brother-in-law, cousins, other grandparents, an aunt and uncle and countless relatives on both side of the in-laws families.  But no, off to Texas they just HAD to go.  And now, sadly, her kids are Texans, living in the same city the National Rifle Association (NRA) is holding its annual conference this very week.  Even the mayor asked them to postpone the convention out of respect for families burying their dead.  They refused.

In Texas, you don't need a license to carry a gun.  You also don't have to submit to a criminal check.  If you are 18, you can just buy any gun -- including assault weapons.  In fact, there are more guns in the US than people.  When B went to buy a fanny pack a few years ago there, the one he returned with had a gun holster built in!  Driving down the freeways in Houston, you see guys on motorcycles casually driving along with guns on their hips.  

Why?

I'll tell you why.  Because, along with violent video games that make these killings seem "normal", the NRA continues to buy politicians with millions of dollars.  Now we will hear all the usual moaning about this latest tragedy, the president will go on national TV and cry -- although why it is taking him seven hours to get in front of a camera beats me! -- the governor will cry, the police will take the stage, the gunman's social media will be scoured for "clues", his friends will be interviewed crying, everyone will be incredulous, grief counsellors will appear, "experts" will pronounce from on high.....and what will change?

Nothing.  Frankly, I'd like to know how much the NRA has contributed to the campaigns of all the politicians currently wringing their hands and wailing.  And watching the coverage, I have never seen so many super-armed police and armored vehicles and tanks in my life!  What did they cost and what did they prevent?!  Rhetorical.  Anyone still want to de-fund the police?  Frankly, they might as well because they prevent nothing.  

Nothing will change because, as it cites the second amendment and repeats its "guns-don't-kill-people, people-kill-people" mantra, the NRA and its money are in charge.  Since Sandy Hook, what gun-control legislation has passed in Congress?  Zero.  The majority of letters to the editor in today's 'Globe and Mail' were about this mess.  Here's one that echoes what I have been saying:

Nothing will change.  Nothing.