I Proclaim Today 'Did You Know' Day.

       Did you know that today is 'did you know' day? Did you know that there is more than one mass shooting per day in America? Did you know that there have been more gun deaths in America in the last four years than all the deaths in the Korean conflict, Viet-Nam war, Afghanistan and Iraq combined? Did you know that firearms take a life in America every sixteen minutes? Did you know that there are 300 million guns in America, that at least 2,000 persons on the terrorism watch list legally purchased firearms in America, that according to Harvard research, 40% of firearms are sold without a background check in America?
       An article in the New York Times today gave these details and a lot more. And the thing is we're not even trying to do anything about it. Not a single piece of legislation addresses the problem. In fact some states continue to make it easier for anyone to buy a gun. One side says we need better mental health care, the other side says we need better background checks. Guess what? We need both. And we need fewer guns, not more. We need to begin to eliminate some classes of firearms for public purchase and we need required training for purchasers of any firearm.
       Here's the thing, as I've said before, we've tried more guns. It hasn't worked. Think spaghetti. The more you eat, the more weight you gain. Maybe the less you eat the less you'll gain. Shouldn't we at least give it a try? Fewer guns and no guns for people who can't pass a background check. Hey, even guns owners agree with that one, by 80%. Only the NRA disagrees, which means that Congress disagrees, because, apparently, whatever the NRA thinks is good enough for Congress.
       The NRA used to be an organization that looked out for the best interests of gun owners. But it's morphed into an organization that looks out for the best interests of the gun manufacturers and their profits. The question we have to ask ourselves is which is more important to all of us: the profits of the gun industry or the lives of American citizens? If that's a question you have difficulty answering, then we're in worse shape that I thought.