A mass shooting in Buffalo. Another racist massacre reminding us of the AME mass shooting in Charleston, SC.

Then another mass school shooting of elementary children in Texas. Reminding us of Sandy Hook.

Minutes after President Joe Biden addressed the nation about the cancer of mass and gun shootings in the US, another shooting.

The gun culture of violence and the willingness to simply live with that death and violence in the US has become a recurring and very dark part of the cultural parody that is the US: ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.

The Onion has run that story so often that after recent mass shootings, The Onion ran exclusively all these posts on their main page.

This is the US, this is who we are:

America exceptionalism is a gun, or more accurately, all guns for anyone and everyone all the time—regardless of the carnage in the wake of worshipping an antiquated Second Amendment instead of community values and community safety.

Republicans, libertarians, and conservatives double down after each massacre with a baffling and nearly comical barrage of blame for anything except guns.

After children were slaughtered in Texas with an AR-15, Republicans began to blame doors—calling not for gun control, but for schools having only one door.

Regardless of the specifics of the mass shootings and excessive gun violence, Republicans and conservatives are beholden to the NRA, and not humanity. As a result, the blame and excuses defy logic and evidence.

First, the US is an extreme outlier in gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings when compared to similar wealthy countries (see above) but also among states depending on gun laws:

And facts about gun violence clearly support that something can be done:

The evidence-based reality is that US gun violence and mass/school shootings are significantly correlated with the amount of guns in the US, the ease of access to guns in the US, and the types of guns and ammunition people can use.

Yet, again, gun apologists in the US will blame anything except gun.

Here, then, is the logic problem for gun apologists.

Is gun violence actually about mental illness?

First, people with mental illness are more likely to experience violence as victims than the rest of the population (see here).

Second, all of the countries listed in the chart at the beginning also have populations with mental illness, but not the excessive gun violence, not the mass and school shootings.

To that second point, all of the countries with nearly no gun violence or mass/school shootings have all of the social and pop culture experiences gun apologists blame for gun violence—access to video games and movies/series with violence, increases in so-called non-traditional family structures, changing cultures and shifting demographics.

One of the most illogical and contradictory arguments made by gun apologists is that banning guns will only hurt people following the law, that criminals will access guns regardless. These are the same people banning abortion, banning books, banning curriculum, by the way.

The Republican resistance to gun regulation, if extrapolated beyond guns, would mean there is no reason to have any law. It is insincere, factually untrue (regulations do work), and simply dishonest—since Republicans rush to ban and regulate many aspects of our lives based on their ideology and beliefs.

And finally, many Republicans and conservatives blame a lack of religion or the deterioration of religion in the US.

However, again return to the first chart above, Japan and the Czech Republican are two of the three countries with the highest population identified as atheist; the Czech Republic is over 70% atheist/agnostic. Yet, Japan is the least gun violent country (and Japan is also a country that has adopted much of US pop culture) with the Czech Republic among the least violent as well.

Here are two facts that the US and our political leaders must accept.

Gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings in the US are the result of conscious political decisions and choice; different choices can and will make a difference (many other countries addressed successfully gun violence and mass shootings).

The amount of guns in the US, access to guns in the US, and the types of guns and ammunition available—these are the strongest correlations to gun violence and mass/school shootings.

In the US, guns matter more than any human. It is the political cancer of the country.

“No way to prevent this” is the unwavering motto of the Republican Party.

This is a lie, one that is a death sentence for innocent people as you read this.

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