The epidemic of American gun violence is continuing to rage on this week. Not long after two people lost their lives at a mass shooting during a Madden video game tournament in Florida, ten people were shot during what’s been described as a late Sunday night dice game at an apartment complex in San Bernardino, California.
Police have — as of early Monday — not apprehended any suspects and been unable to determine an exact motive for the shootings. They believe there was an exchange of gunfire rather than an apparent single shooter and have not ruled out gang violence, which at times rocks the area.
San Bernardino Police Captain Richard Lawhead explained:
‘I can tell you multiple shots were fired, I don’t want to guess how many. We do have some people that have been transported to the station for investigative purposes so we hope that they will yield information for us.’
Among the ten shot, at least three people were in extremely critical condition early Monday. A local described hearing rapidly unfolding gunfire followed not long after by a circling police helicopter, from which an officer called through a loudspeaker for all weapons to be put down.
San Bernardino has been rocked by high profile gun violence in the past. It was there that in late 2015, a husband and wife team attacked a group of people gathered for an office party, leaving 14 dead and 22 wounded. President Donald Trump — who was at the time just a candidate for office — made his infamous call for Muslims to be banned from entering the United States following that incident, since the perpetrators happened to be Muslim. Trump has made no similar call in the aftermath of any one of the array of mass shooting incidents carried out by white males.
He continually seeks to pin violence on his political opponents without taking any responsibility for the atrocities’ broader context. For instance, to Trump, the violent crime that rocks Tallahassee, Florida — and has, to be sure, been decreasing recently — is Mayor Andrew Gillum’s fault and not apparently emblematic of the broader American problem with guns. Gillum is the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, taking on Trump’s pick U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis this November.
Overall, since January 1 of this year, nearly 10,000 people have lost their lives to gun violence in the United States. Nearly 20,000 people have been injured in similar incidents.
There have been a number of high profile incidents throughout the months of bloodshed, including the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February that left 17 dead.
In the aftermath of that incident, the Trump administration unveiled a “school safety plan” that included no new legislation whatsoever.
Trump and Republicans have offered their condolences, but thoughts and prayers are getting old. Americans are continuing to die while the GOP whines about their gun rights in the face of thousands and thousands of dead and injured Americans. They argue, basically, that since we can’t stop all gun violence and keep every criminal from getting a firearm that we shouldn’t try at all.
Later this year, they will face their fed-up constituents and likely lose control of the U.S. House if not the U.S. Senate as well.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
