After a teenager killed 19 students and two teachers at a school in the town of Ovalde on Tuesday, the United States finds itself surrounded by 10 disturbing facts, left after each shooting after another, the French magazine "L'Obs" said.
Republicans are cowards
The magazine explained - in a report by its New York correspondent Philip Boulet-Gercor - that the only consistent and consistent position of the Republicans after each massacre is that "it is tragic but the price we pay for the freedom to bear arms," only to reveal their flimsy excuses: the mental illness of the killers, the lack of protection target places.
After this massacre in Ovaldi, Texas, in which 19 children and two elementary school teachers were killed two days ago, South Dakota Senator John Thune said, "The common point in all of these massacres is that these people suffer from mental illnesses," and Jim was followed by Jim Inhoff of Oklahoma, "We're talking about millions of people. There have to be strangers who are unpredictable, there's no way to get to know them in advance," after which Dan Sullivan of Alaska says, "For me, the focus has to be on mental illness and those kinds of mental illness." the problems".
Armed protection for buildings
And every time also - as the writer says - it is repeated that we only need better protection for schools, churches and supermarkets, says Dan Patrick, Deputy Governor of Texas, “We must strengthen the protection of these places so that no one can enter except through one door,” and Ken follows him Paxton, the Texas attorney general, says that “schools should have trained and armed teachers or administrators,” after which Texas Senator Ted Cruz adds, “Experience has taught us that the most effective tool for keeping children safe is an armed police force on campus.”
But Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate in economics and a columnist for The New York Times, calls for thinking about what it would cost him to try to secure vulnerable sites with armed guards, as there are roughly 130,000 primary and secondary schools in America and 40,000 supermarkets and many other places at risk of mass shootings, so “arming these places” would require a greater military force than the Marine Corps, which has about 180,000 personnel.
Democrats don't want to confiscate guns
If "guns" are saying that the Democrats want to take our guns and keep us from even the slightest gun, where do they have the right to?
The answer is that the Democrats' attempts are entirely reasonable, based on suggestions Americans overwhelmingly approved in the polls, such as generalizing background checks or limiting offensive semi-automatic weapons that nothing justifies civilian use.
The writer pointed out that this veneration that confers on the "right to bear arms" and the Second Amendment to the Constitution is nothing but a tactical maneuver to prevent the slightest reform, arguing that it will set a precedent for Democrats to push, despite their declaration to ensure that the right to own arms will not be retracted, but under circumstances and conditions specific.
It all goes back to the dictatorship of the minority
Although opinion polls leave no room for doubt about Americans' overwhelming support for stricter gun control, the writer says, the "procrastination" prevents this support from being translated into law because a minority of 40 of the 100 Senators is obstructing, and it stands Against every Democratic or bipartisan bill since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, and even before it.
Also, a group of Democrats refrains from stopping this obstruction, which requires only a simple majority, as the writer sees, and thus America will remain stuck in this crisis.
Supreme Court complicity
The decision may come soon. Will the Supreme Court force New York state to allow its citizens to carry concealed weapons, after the law of this state allowed the carrying of concealed weapons only when there was a serious reason, a particular profession, or a threat to the person in question?
The existence of this law has led some locals to call for the remembrance of the many other states in which the bearing of concealed weapons is free and sometimes not even required a permit, and they attacked the law now being heard before the nation's highest court, where conservative judges have a majority.
The office emphasized that the Supreme Court's decision would be in favor of this group because it interprets the Second Amendment to the Constitution that "the existence of a well-organized militia is essential to the security of a free state, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms must not be violated."
The location of the last operation in which 19 children were killed (Reuters)
The NRA crisis changes nothing
Shaken by serial scandals, the National League, the pro-gun lobby, is little more, and will hold its annual conference in Houston from Friday to Sunday, and the list of speakers does not indicate a fading organization. There is former President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz Senator from Texas.
And if this association is increasingly tilted to its extreme right, such as the Organization of Gun Owners of America or the National Association for Gun Rights, it is similar - as the writer says - to what happens when small groups overthrow a powerful drug cartel godfather, as they fight among themselves to control his empire.
Tragedies make things worse
If we show the country the pictures of the classroom in Ovaldi after this massacre, in which the unrecognizable remains of small bodies ripped apart by bullets are piled up - which we will not do out of respect for the families of the victims - it is likely that America will end up moving, but we say this to clarify that the truth of this The tragedies are not visible to the public.
Although simple Americans are rebellious and horrified by what happens to young children like Sandy Hook and Ovaldi, and the country appears to be in a real desire for reform, this reaction is short-lived, and the feeling of helplessness ends in dispelling discontent, as "pro-arms" rush out after every major tragedy and before all possibility. To elect a Democratic president to the stores to support them, they bought nearly 20 million guns in 2021.
The media must change
As for the news channels, the coverage has become unbearable, as the writer says, especially since it does not go beyond who the killer was?
Why do you act like this?
And what is his weapon?
And who are the victims?
etc., and there is no fault in that. This is her work, which is very good and is done with respect for the affected communities and the families of the victims. However, what should be noted - according to the author - is the absence or insufficiency of investigations or reports related to political responsibilities, and therefore the media world needs to Rethink the way he covers these serial massacres.
In 2012, we could have believed President Barack Obama after Sandy Hook saying “we must cooperate and take meaningful action to prevent further tragedies,” but 10 years later how do we listen without anger to President Joe Biden repeating “We must act” or To his deputy, she says, "Enough is enough. As a nation, we must have the courage to act."
When we know that any legislative initiative will be killed by the Republican right, we must realize that it is time to change strategy, so why not make gun control a real priority in the election campaign, by carefully organizing the campaign and forcing the Democratic candidates, if they want to get The party's agreement to put the issue on the priority list, and not just in a rhetorical way?
America is probably tired of this
With Washington completely blocked, the majority of Americans who opposed this frenzy, reckless rage, seem frustrated at the impossibility of changing things, especially since the last important oversight measure voted to ban assault weapons took place 28 years ago and lasted only years.
With all these frustrations, the writer concludes with a glimmer of hope, as he points out that social issues sometimes happen at the unexpected time, citing America’s move to prevent the death penalty or the marriage of homosexuals (homosexuals) in a way that few expected, hoping that such would happen. Regarding gun control, according to the author.