Again

So more students have been shot and we will have news stories about them for a few days – and move on. The president of Northern Illinois University, according to the New York Times “said that universities were among the most open institutions in society, but that the shooting here and the attack at Virginia Tech last year is ‘forcing us to reconsider how we do things.’ He described the change as ‘unfortunate.’”

Yes: unfortunate. We may have to install metal detectors in university buildings and arrange more elaborate systems to notify students of “incidents” and hire more grief counselors. We treat the results but turn our eyes away from the cause.

Don’t copy the NRA line and tell me that “people kill people.” Guns kill people. People with guns kill more people than people without guns. More people in this country have guns than people in other countries. More people in this country get killed by guns than people in other countries.

Why is it so hard to understand this — and face it — and deal with it?

Well, we know the answer: people with guns also have the money to buy politicians. Has anyone in this political year suggested that reducing the number of guns available would make this a safer country? Of course not! That would involve leadership – taking a stand even at cost to oneself.

So we will close down our campuses with metal detectors and alarm systems and wait for the next group of young people to die.

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