The next massacre - A tragedy we will not try to avert - By Eugene Robinson [View all]

[onehandle]

Will we even pretend to do anything to prevent the next mass shooting by a crazed loner? I doubt it. We’ll just add Aurora to the growing list — Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson — and wait for the inevitable.

When that next atrocity comes, we’ll tell each other we’re shocked and stunned, knowing full well we should be neither. We’ll probe the assailant’s life in search of a motive, knowing full well we won’t find one that makes any sense. We’ll comfort the survivors and the victims’ families and assure them their suffering will not be in vain.

Meanwhile, somewhere out there, another disturbed young man will be purchasing an assault rifle and making unspeakable plans.

I can only conclude that we, as a society, have decided this state of affairs is acceptable, that the occasional murderous rampage is the price we pay for . . . for what? For freedom? For the Second Amendment? For campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-mass-shootings-are-a-tragedy-we-dont-want-to-avert/2012/07/23/gJQAghsI5W_story.html