Quote of the Day

Action to prevent gun violence [in the U.S.] is far from forthcoming. If it didn’t happen after Sandy Hook – where a gunman killed 20 children – or the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando – where 49 victims lost their lives – then it isn’t happening after Las Vegas. Which gets to the truth of the matter. In America, after a mass shooting, we pantomime politics, but we don’t actually carry it out. Political leaders speak – they play their parts – but with no expectation of change. And for those of us who chronicle political action, it means we describe statements and rhetoric that ultimately amount to little, putting lie to the belief that there’s any meaning in what those actors say.

. . . As long as the Republican Party is fully committed to its vision of an armed society – a ruling party gripped by the power of the gun lobby and unmoved by the routine massacres that mark American life – there are few options in the realm of legislation.

Until someone, or something, can break that grip, we won’t actually have a national response to mass shootings. Instead, we’ll have this kabuki play, performed at every tragedy until the outrage fades and gun violence returns to the background of American life, destroying lives but not quite shocking the collective conscience. Until, of course, we’re met with another Sandy Hook, another Orlando, another Las Vegas.

– Jamelle Bouie
Excerpted from “There Is No 'Hope' With Mass Shootings”
Slate
October 2, 2017

Related Off-site Links:
A Burst of Gunfire, a Pause, Then Carnage in Las Vegas That Would Not Stop – Ken Belson, Jennifer Medina and Richard Pérez-Peña (The New York Times, October 2, 2017).
Amid Mass Shootings, GOP-controlled Congress Remains Focused on Loosening Gun Laws – Mike DeBonis (The Washington Post, October 2, 2017).
If Newtown Wasn't Enough, Why Would Las Vegas Be Enough? – Charles P. Pierce (Esquire, October 2, 2017).
America’s White Man Problem: After Las Vegas, a Familiar Script Unfolds – Chauncey Devega (Salon, October 2, 2017).
When Shooter Is White Male, Note Critics, Label of “Terrorist” Put on Hold – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, October 2, 2017).
No Pistol Could Have Stopped This: The Las Vegas Shooting Demolishes the NRA’s “Good Guy With a Gun” Argument – Alex Yablon (Slate, October 2, 2017).
The Simple Truth About Gun Control – Adam Gopnik (The New Yorker, December 19, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Social Roots of Yet Another American Tragedy
• Something to Think About – December 14, 2012
• Quote of the Day – December 15, 2012
• Rejoice?
• “I Pray, I Pray”
• Prayer of the Week – June 19, 2016
• Discerning and Embodying Sacred Presence in Times of Violence and Strife
• Questioning God's Benevolence in the Face of Tragedy

Image: Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds and the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday, October 1, 2017. (Photo: David Becker/Getty Images)