Something to keep in mind about gun deaths
We are almost down half from our national peak. Thing is, we never heard about the people, just the numbers. Just like highway deaths. We know intellectually we have a 9-11 once a month, 3k dead in stupid road deaths. But unless the accident is big and sexy, it's always local news.
We are hearing more about each gun death now which is taking this away from being a statistic. The status who depends on us accepting these deaths as the cost of doing business. I've heard assholes use that very phrase to excuse preventable deaths. It's the same logic that says children lose fingers and limbs in factories, the cost of progress.
I think we are hearing more and getting Olympic athlete biographical coverage of the deaths because its sexy and sells. Our talking heads love a good tragedy, weeping parents, shrines of flowers and teddy bears. They're emotional vampires. And yet in their own craven self-service we might yet see public sentiment turn against the gun madness and make real reforms.
I suppose that the same thing could be said of past tragedies. The publishers were just looking to sell papers and might let a journalist rake some muck out of self-service, if he accomplished anything of social value that's beside the point.
The other thing that's happening through all this is the gun nutter position is being put in a really awful light, same as with the pro-rape republicans trying to justify the war on women. Their base won't let them back down and they look crazy to everyone else.
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