Following up the last post on guns, here is an article from the New Yorker, How Did Guns Get So Powerful. It blew me away with its clarity and research. Herb Van Fleet’s research in the previous post was outstanding for legal perspective. This New Yorker article, as the title says, explains how guns became an integral part of American culture and ties in the technology. Wish I could write so well.
Exerpt:
As the horror in Uvalde unfolded, there were plenty of armed police officers, but there was little willingness to charge in against a barricaded shooter. The police have been called cowards for their hesitancy, but their reaction is unsurprising: despite the often militaristic rhetoric of police unions, the average cop is not going to be ready for a situation most United States marines have never faced. When we arm our citizens with such lethal weapons, we can’t always expect uncommon valor.
Still Skeptical After All These Years 
Don’t know if you follow Bill Maher or not, but last week he did a “new rules” segment on guns. He pointed out that Hollywood glorifies guns and that the violent movies are about revenge. He makes a good point. Here’s the whole thing if you’re interested.
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A huge amount of research went into that article, obviously. Very interesting and yet terribly discouraging.
And for the record, I DO expect uncommon valor from our police officers when it is necessary. That’s what we pay them for, to take the risks that an average citizen won’t or can’t take. If they aren’t willing to do that, they shouldn’t be police officers.
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Discovered: a significant exception to the case for culture being more significant than quantity of guns for mass shootings: https://time.com/6186982/philippines-guns-mass-shootings/
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I suspect you know by now that I’ve given up on any rational solutions to gun violence. The best I can hope for is legislating responsibility for it and enforcing those laws. Good luck. No amount of remediation will undo what we have to put up with in the South… and West… hell, the whole US.
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I have had the same thought, that the gun culture is too embedded to change. And then I recall being surprised by the acceptance of same-sex marriage and an assault-weapons ban. Culture can change, depends on which way the lemmings run, I guess.
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