In the wake of every tragic mass shooting, we Americans watch the eruption of the same fight over gun control. It's a lazy response to a heinous and urgent problem, and it solves nothing.
The impassioned debates and protests after a mass shooting play out on an endless loop. There are arguments about the need for guns, the types of guns, how the laws should change, what should be done to protect the public. Sadly, the victims themselves are quickly overlooked as the political players shift the focus to their entrenched positions. It's a sickening spectacle, and it never changes--except to grow more enraged and less effective.
In all the ideological jousting, there is one question that doesn't get asked. Or, if by chance it does get asked, it is swept aside with shocking rapidity as the shouting voices press their favored agendas.
The question that needs to be answered is: "What made the shooter pick up that gun?"
Until we as a society insist on an answer to that question, we will relive this repetitive horror show throughout the duration of our country's demise.
