Still processing the latest school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. I notice that the comments, arguments, and FB postings ( I don’t look at Twitter too often, but the same process happens there), are very predictable after each of these tragic events. In looking at various news links, this time there were two teachers killed (both substitutes, it seems), and and one police officer (the SRO) seriously wounded. The shooter was, according to some reports, mad at a girl for not going out with him. I have not seen any linkage thematically with the Canadian incident where an “Incel” loser ran over a bunch of people with a vehicle. Mad at a girl/female/woman, so you go and kill her and a bunch of others? Wow.
Anyway, an interesting news link I found from PolitiFact-“What’s true, what’s not about Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting“
I am old enough to remember Columbine, and how that so shocked the nation and that shock continued for quite a while. Now, the news will talk about this latest shooting for a few days, maybe a week, at least until something else enters the news cycle and detracts us from the ongoing slaughter of our youth. And, not to belittle anything, but how many teens and young adults have died of gang-related gun violence lately? Some social media factions make a big deal about the ongoing gang killings in Chicago and other places, and try to argue that somehow the two types of violence (schools vs. gang shootings), are comparable. While I do not believe they are in the same zone, in the final count, both types of violence kills young people, and both types are based on the problems (mental health, poverty, social isolation, and yes, access to guns by the wrong people), that plague American society today.
What is the solution? Damned if I know right now.