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Guns in the USA: A sorry reflection on the GOP and Congress

Another day, another round of shootings in America.  A fleeting degree of introspection...and then "life" will go back to "normal,  the rampant and irresponsible NRA having got its way in preventing any sort of curb on the ready availability of guns.   A commentary in The Age an apt headline - "Orlando shooting: For Republicans, it's easier to ban Muslims than guns" - says it all!

"In December last year Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik armed themselves with AR-15s - the same type of weapon used to kill 50 people in Orlando - and murdered 14 people at a Christmas party in San Bernardino, California, in what was soon classified as a terrorist attack. 

Over 40,000 Americans are dying each year partly because the they live in a society in which it is more politically viable to propose banning Muslims than regulate gun sales.

The following day Republicans in Congress blocked a bill that would have banned people who were on the terrorist watch list from buying guns. The National Rifle Association opposed the ban on the grounds the list might contain mistakes, and some people might unfairly have their right to bear arms infringed upon.
 
The NRA's lackies in Congress did as they were told, as they always do.

Since then Donald Trump has become the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee on a platform that includes a proposal to ban all Muslims from entering America "until we figure out what is going on."

But we already know what is going on. Over 40,000 Americans are dying each year partly because the they live in a society in which it is more politically viable to propose banning Muslims than regulate gun sales.
 
Trump has already woven the weekend's slaughter into his campaign narrative, declaring: "I said this was going to happen – and it is only going to get worse. 

"I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can't afford to be politically correct any more."

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