Yesterday a Supermarket in Buffalo; Today a Church in Laguna Woods, California

Less than 24 hours after 10 people were murdered by a white supremacist at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, another gunman opened fire at a church in Laguna Woods, California killing one person with four other people in critical condition. 

The suspect has been taken into custody, but has not been identified. The motive for the attack remains unknown at this hour.

For far too many years now, America has faced an epidemic of mass shootings which seem to occur on a weekly, if not daily basis. These shootings have happened in our houses of worship, grocery stores, shopping malls, public transportation, movie theaters, concerts, nightclubs and, of course, schools - be they elementary, high school and universities.

Now mass shootings are not confined to the United States. Indeed, the Buffalo shooter was inspired by the 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, this attack was New Zealand's first mass shooting in more than 20 years. Between those two New Zealand mass shootings, America had endured more than 90 mass shootings. It is the frequency of mass shootings in this country which sets the United States apart.

Something has to change. But what exactly?

While stricter gun laws might be of some help chances are they wouldn't have prevented most of the mass shootings which have taken place over the past three decades or so. Back in January 2016, when President Obama had a town hall summit on CNN in the wake of the ISIS terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, I made this argument in The American Spectator:

Let’s be clear. No background check known to man would have prevented the San Bernardino attacks. To start with, the terrorists had a straw buyer. Then let’s add the fact the perpetrators were affiliated with ISIS, an organization which seeks to spill American blood. Do you think expanded background checks are going to deter ISIS in any way shape or form from killing Americans?

While the Buffalo shooter appears to have acted alone, he was every bit as fanatical as the perpetrators of the San Bernardino attack. The Buffalo shooter traveled more than 200 miles to kill his victims. No expansion of background checks would have deterred him either.

What also hasn't changed over these past six and a half years is that nearly 2 out of every 3 gun deaths in this country are suicides, not homicides. If one wants to significantly reduce the number of gun deaths in this country then one must address our collective mental health. But even there we must keep in mind there are many other ways to end your own life.

Nevertheless mass shootings in the United States cannot be ignored at the public policy level. While some problems are global in nature such as inflation, when it comes to gun violence it is an American problem. 

Unfortunately, we are also a country which has accepted the deaths of 1 million Americans from COVID-19 and have more or less shrugged our shoulders. If we can do that then we should not be surprised if we are not moved into action by the deaths of tens of thousands Americans.