35% of Americans think mass shootings are “just a fact of life”

Earlier this week, I pointed out that the American people are complicit in the gun violence epidemic which cripples this nation every single day. Unfortunately, our citizens aren’t losing any sleep over this. In fact, they are utterly abdicating responsibility on the matter. A recent YouGov poll shows that over a third of our nation believes that mass shootings are “just a fact of life in America today.” What’s worse, fewer than half of Americans believe that mass shootings can be stopped.

As Americans, we should be ashamed of ourselves and our inability to confront this issue at all. We upturned the Middle East and shredded habeas corpus because 2,977 innocent Americans were killed in the horrific 9/11 attacks. And yet every single year we sit back and accept 30,000 gun deaths? Gun violence has now killed 428 times more Americans over the last decade than terrorism. And we’re supposed to believe that this a “just a part of life” in the so-called greatest country on earth?

Here at Civic Skunk Works, we lambasted Jeb Bush last week for shrugging his shoulders in response to the UCC shooting and grumbling, “Stuff happens.” Yet, this YouGov poll indicates his callous reaction actually represents many Americans. If that doesn’t get your blood boiling, I don’t know what will.

“Every nation gets the government it deserves,” said the political philosopher, Joseph de Maistre. Ultimately, this country will continue to be ravaged by gun violence if we continue to elect leaders who do nothing to address this epidemic. If you vote for individuals who are gun responsibility skeptics, you need to consider the implications of your vote. As President Obama advised the nation, “Our thoughts and prayers are not enough.”