There is a mass shooting in the US about once per day, defined by a murder of more than 4 people at a time; 307 so far this year by Nov. 8, the 312th day of the year. A little known statistic in the US about gun ownership explains everything you need to know about gun control: Each time there is a mass shooting, sales of guns go up, not down! This may seem non-sensical to people in other countries such as Australia, where I currently live. The last time there was a massacre in Australia was in Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996, when 35 people were killed. The government immediately organized a mandatory buy-back of most of the guns in the country, and that was basically the last time it happened. People are baffled why nothing like this happens in the US. That is because foreigners do not understand how the US operates.
Dmitry Orlov wrote an article a while back about a Financial Black Hole, which sheds light on the subject. He explained it this way: "American officials and politicians are definitely puppets, controlled by corporate lobbyists [such as the NRA] and shady oligarchs. But here's a shocker: these are also puppets--controlled by the simple imperatives of profitability and wealth preservation, respectively. In fact, it's puppets all the way down. And what's at the bottom is a giant, ever-expanding, financial black hole." Orlov further explained, "it turns out that the black hole is sentient. But it is also very, very stupid. And the way it enforces its will is by destroying the minds of its puppets--by making them unable to understand certain things."
So to explain the US to foreigners I try to get them to understand that the US is very, very simple to understand, but also very, very stupid; everything is driven by profit. War is for profit, health care is for profit, education is for profit, pharmaceuticals are for profit, guns are for profit, etc. Or as Calvin Coolidge once said, "the business of America is business". It is not complicated at all, if you understand that as Orlov points out, it also destroys the minds of the people involved in this system.
Each time there is a mass shooting is a fantastic new marketing opportunity for gun companies and their puppets, the NRA. This operates in two ways: The first is to convince people that they need to be armed to protect themselves from psychotic mass murderers, who are prevalent in the US. Due to fear of being shot, many people immediately purchase guns after a massacre, thinking it will protect them. This also serves to expand gun carrying laws, such as the recent effort in Michigan to allow residents to carry firearms inside previously gun-free places such as churches, schools, bars and stadiums. Laws loosening guns laws are more likely to appear after mass shootings. As Orlov points out, it destroys their minds. But in any case there is typically a spike in gun purchases after massacres.
The second way that mass shootings are free advertising for gun companies is by demonstrating the superior lethal firepower of whatever automatic weapon was used by the shooter. Mass shooters seem to be competing for the greatest number of fatalities in one massacre. This scuttles any effort to restrict laws against purchasing automatic weapons, because mass murder requires the very best military-grade automatic weapons currently available. It would go against the free market to limit it, and the free market is the religion of the US.
While we may cringe at these facts at the level of individual shooters, it may make more sense at the national level. The current massacre of Yemen by Saudi Arabia is extremely profitable for US and UK arms companies. For example, recent headlines indicate that British arm sales to Saudi Arabia have increased by 500%. Obama and Trump each made weapons deals for $100 billion with Saudi Arabia. This is a great business opportunity for US arms manufacturers. Likewise, every mass murder in the US is just another business opportunity for US gun companies. There is no difference.
So stop looking for complicated reasons in the "disturbed psyches" of American mass shooters, or in the violence of society or video games. It is just good business.
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