Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was the site of a horrific mass shooting on May 24, 2022. Nineteen children and two teachers were murdered by an 18-year-old armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle.

What is so astounding to me is the fact that those opposed to gun safety still believe, even after this tragedy, that it would be wrong to limit the ownership of these types of assault weapons.

These killing machines were invented not for hunting but for use by the military on the battlefield. They are designed to kill a maximum number of people.

In the immediate aftermath of this senseless and preventable tragedy, Texas senator Ted Cruz refused to answer and stormed away when questioned about gun reform by SkyNews reporter Mark Stone.

Senator Cruz is now arguing that America needs not gun control but rather door control. If the number of doors into all schools were legally limited to one, then voila—no more mass killings.

Even if one were to leave aside the fact that such a legal restriction of doors would surely result in actual deaths from eventualities such as fires or earthquakes, it is still an absurd proposal meant only to curry favour with the National Rifle Association (NRA).

As of June 2—in the first 22 weeks into 2022—Americans had experienced 233 mass shootings. Gun violence overall so far this year has killed 18,193 individuals—including 152 children and 540 teens. Many more have been injured.

Twenty-five years ago, sixteen children and one teacher were massacred at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland. The United Kingdom government reacted quickly, outlawing private ownership of most handguns.

Britain has experienced no further school shootings since that time.

On Memorial Day, May 30, an editorial in the Los Angeles Times recommended a Memorial Day for Gun Violence Victims, calling for the need to remember the victims and address “this enemy in our midst”.

A poll taken one day after the Uvalde shooting found that 88 percent of Americans support universal background checks on all gun sales. The poll also found that other restrictions on gun sales were also supported by overwhelming majorities.

The question now is whether or not politicians in the pockets of the NRA will finally be pushed by public opinion to bring the carnage to an end by enacting the same types of laws that other nations around the world have, restricting the ownership of guns.

Only time will tell.

Daily atmospheric CO₂[Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (June 2, 2022): 421.64ppm

One year ago (June 2, 2021): 420.44 pm