Every time there is a mass shooting, a chorus goes up: “We must do something to keep this from happening again. We can’t tolerate it any longer.” Revulsion understandably creates a demand for remedies. And every time, we do nothing, to the fury of those who denounce the inaction as shameful.
But there is a simple explanation for the inaction, writes Steve Chapman. It’s not that the National Rifle Association is all-powerful, that too many Americans are blind to reason, or that most are complacent about wanton slaughter. It’s that there are no plausible options that offer more than the faintest prospect of preventing a massacre in the next year or the next decade.
Mass shootings are a horrific problem that is peculiarly resistant to solutions. To a great extent, public policy is impotent, argues Chapman. Until the advocates of new restrictions can make the case that they would make a difference, little is likely to happen.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/2BBjVj6
via IFTTT