I’ve been getting emails from DailyKos, asking how I feel about certain events in the news. Yesterday I started thinking about what I would like to say about the latest American mass murder.
Yesterday there was a mass murder at the San Bernadino Inland Regional Center. Many people would like to blame it on terrorism. However, it sounds as if a guy got butthurt at a department holiday party and brought back the missus and lots of guns. Once another group takes responsibility, I will be happy to revise my statement, but for now it looks a whole lot like a workplace shooting.
I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about it ever since. I’m still not sure how I feel, even though I’m not really feeling anything at all.
I’ve not always been this callous. The third anniversary of the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary school in CT is coming up in a week or so. I was heartbroken. 26 families had everything taken away from them that day. I felt badly enough that I joined a Ravelry group to make stuffed toys for the children in the town who had lost siblings or were scarred by their memories. That was before we found that the whole rest of the world were also sending toys, and our toys were donated to local police and fire departments to comfort other scarred children.
This time, a whole lot of mass murders have happened between then and yesterday. There was a horrific incident at Arapahoe High School a year or so ago; one child and a security guard/off-duty sheriff’s deputy lost their lives. With every incident we hear about on the news, I feel a little less.
I feel abstractly sad for the people who lost loved ones. I do. But that’s it. No anger, no horror, nothing.
That’s not entirely true. I am unspeakably angry about the NRA’s non-responses, the eagerness of gun store owners to capitalize on tragedy, and of the cavalier attitude of our elected lawmakers. They could do something, but don’t have any feelings anywhere but their wallets, apparently.
Our President is an exception, but there is little he can really do on his own about gun legislation.
I left a comment on a fantastic diary about the Littlest Peach’s school. They have regular lockout and lockdown drills at their school, which is not as far away from Columbine High School as I’d like. They hide under their desks (the ones that aren’t in the hallway when the drill starts — they know what day the drill will be, but not the time), put their hands over their heads, and make as little noise as they can. I hate it. She’s pretty matter-of-fact about it, and I hate that too.
UPDATE 12/6/15: As of yesterday, the FBI is currently investigating this as a possible act of terrorism. Possible, not definite. It is also possible that something larger had been planned, but also not definite. Thanks for all your comments, you guys. They are all appreciated.
