{"id":5586,"date":"2022-05-25T08:18:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T12:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5586"},"modified":"2023-06-11T09:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T13:48:56","slug":"apple-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/05\/25\/apple-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Old Sayings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an old saying, \u201cIt\u2019s as American as apple pie\u201d.  That\u2019s usually a good thing:  fireworks on the Fourth of July, family around the table for Thanksgiving dinner, flags at veteran\u2019s graves on Memorial Day.  We Americans are proud of who we are, and the traditions we\u2019ve created.  We believe in our nation, our \u201cexceptionalism\u201d, and the goodness of Americans despite the current political divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s definitely one thing that\u2019s as \u201cAmerican as apple pie\u201d that we should be ashamed of.  That\u2019s mass shootings, now just ten days after the shootings in Buffalo.  Twenty-one victims, nineteen of them children, killed in Uvalde, Texas.  It\u2019s as American as apple pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts and Prayers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The police were there as the shootings were occurring, just like they were in Buffalo and so many other mass shootings in the United States.  But the damage was already done, the children dead, the shooter \u201cin charge\u201d.  This is not a \u201cpolice response\u201d issue.  They can\u2019t get there fast enough.  In Buffalo it was near a minute, sixty seconds.  But ten were still dead.  At Uvalde, the school resource officer was there, with his fellow officers right behind. The \u201cgood guys with the guns\u201d just aren\u2019t fast enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word is already going forth from politicians:  sending thoughts and prayers, heartfelt sorrow.  And many are saying, \u201cit\u2019s not the time to discuss change\u201d.  To quote the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas kids from Parkland, I call \u201cBS\u201d.  Politicians are elected to solve problems, and make our world safer.  For God\u2019s sake, is there anything more basic than protecting our lives from absolute random violence, and even more protecting our children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awash in Guns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But we haven\u2019t.  Schools have tried since Columbine back in 1999, and even before.  But there is no protection, no fortification, no counseling, that can keep mass shooters away from our school, our church, our grocery store.  This is not a world problem.  When you hear folks talking about \u201chelping the mentally ill\u201d, that too is a \u201cBS\u201d answer.  Every nation has mentally ill people, but not every nation, in fact, not any modern nation has the level of mass shootings as the United States.  Not even close.  This is not a mental problem, this is a gun problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are a nation awash in weapons.  There are 120.5 guns for every 100 Americans.  There are so many guns, that \u201clegal sales\u201d regulations would only begin to resolve the problem.  The \u201cblack market\u201d for guns is so big, it drives criminal activity.  If you have a pistol, I\u2019ll get an automatic pistol.  If you have an automatic pistol, I\u2019ll find a semi-automatic rifle.  You wear Kevlar, I\u2019ll find \u201ccop-killer\u201d bullets.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solutions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Other nations have faced this crisis and solved it.  In 1996, a shooter killed sixteen children in Scotland.  The United Kingdom changed their laws, restricted weapons.  When six died in a mass shooting in 2021, it was the first in a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1996 Australia had a mass shooting in Tasmania, killing thirty-five people with a semi-automatic rifle.  They banned automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and they instituted tough background checks. Since then there have been sixteen mass shootings in Australia.  In the United States, there have been thousands.  For a world comparison of school shootings \u2013 check this inter-active map<\/a>.  The United States is, by several orders of magnitude, the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some Americans have made a choice.   They look at the 2nd<\/sup> Amendment, and determine that it is the right of every American, no matter their mental state or intent, to own a high capacity weapon.  They have written off all possibility of controlling the weapons, claiming that \u201cpeople kill people, not guns\u201d.  But, if you look at the rest of the world, that simple \u201cspin phrase\u201d is not valid.  People kill people, but America have provided them with the most advanced tools to use in the process.   So Americans are choosing to live in a country where nineteen young lives can be snuffed out in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supreme Court Justice Jackson once wrote, \u201c\u2026the Constitution is not a suicide pact\u201d.  He recognized that an absolutist view of any part of the Constitution (in that case, the First Amendment) was never the intent of the Founding Fathers.  But it seems we are determined to commit suicide:  with guns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-seven school shootings this year (NPR<\/a>). Two hundred mass shootings (four or more shot or killed, excluding the shooter) already this year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s as American as apple pie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old Sayings There\u2019s an old saying, \u201cIt\u2019s as American as apple pie\u201d.  That\u2019s usually a good thing:  fireworks on the Fourth of July, family around the table for Thanksgiving dinner, flags at veteran\u2019s graves on Memorial Day.  We Americans are proud of who we are, and the traditions we\u2019ve created.  We believe in our nation, our \u201cexceptionalism\u201d, and the … Continue reading “Apple Pie”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nApple Pie : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Americans are choosing to allow mass shootings in our schools, churches, groceries, and life. 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