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Carnes: SOS all over again

Just a few weeks into the so-called “new normal” and we’re back to senseless murders and pointing fingers at one another for both the cause and the solution. I suppose this means we should start planning our condolences for the first post-pandemic school shooting any day now.

What’s the difference between a 21-year-old religious white supremacist murdering 22 in an El Paso Walmart, a 21-year-old religious sex addict murdering eight in Atlanta spas and a 21-year-old religious anti-social murdering 10 in a Boulder grocery store?

Death totals.



Well, that and the fact all three were 21 and appear to base at least part of their delusional thought processes around magical beings.

Then again, I’m not here to blame age or superstitious beliefs for the murders, as the blame lies squarely on the fingers that pulled the triggers that murdered the innocent people, and the brains those fingers are attached to.

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Here’s how it’s gone for the last two decades: Mass shooting – thoughts and prayers – social media debates – NRA says (fill-in-current democrat leader’s name) is coming for your guns – Lauren Boebert says something insanely stupid (granted, this is a new one) – other elected officials do nothing out of fear of voter retaliation – everyone else pretends to forget – another mass shooting.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

And the repetition will no doubt happen again this time as well. Not that I wish for it to, but because it’s all we ever do.

I noticed the NRA is relatively quiet this time around though, but that’s probably because they’re busy fighting embezzlement lawsuits. Meanwhile the GOP is too focused on resurrecting Jim Crow, and I’m sure Sen. Ron Johnson would not have been afraid since none of the above shooters were Black.

Since the ’60s, in spite of Democrats Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama never “coming for our guns,” some keep pushing the false narrative that they are, and this only helps the weapon manufacturing industry — no one else.

No one is trying to nullify the Second Amendment, and even if they tried, the Constitution simply does not allow it, but there is nothing wrong with more thorough background checks and a better system in place to stop those with proven mental issues from quick and easy access to assault weapons.

I just don’t see why we have to make it so damned easy for them.

Just because I believe the obsessive desire to own weapons capable of killing dozens at a time is a sign of mental illness in and of itself does not mean I have issues with someone possessing firearms for protection in their own home, rifles for hunting and target shooting, shotguns for birds and skeet and so on, but a snowflake with a perpetual chip on his shoulder towards society in general claiming a right to be armed while shopping at City Market is a bit over the top.

But these are the warped mindsets convinced that if they had been in the Boulder grocery store, then not as many would have been murdered simply because they would have shown the shooter who was the real boss.

Sad, just appallingly sad.

I still find it hard to believe there are actually “sides” to this issue, but I do know both can toss statistics back and forth 24/7, each “proving” their validity, and neither ever changing anything.

Anything at all.

Meanwhile, innocent people are still murdered daily.

Maybe it’s just me, but this is not what I thought we meant by wishing to return to normal.


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