Phrase of the Day: THE LONE GUNMAN FALLACY

Yesterday, yet another school shooting took place in America.  This time, it was at a high school in Parkland, Florida.  More than a dozen were injured and, as of this posting, seventeen are dead.  The shooter is nineteen years old and an expelled, former student of the high school where the shooting took place.  He had hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a gas mask, four smoke bombs, and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.  Yes, the same kind of rifle used in so many of these mass shootings.

Gun manufacturers sure have a niche market.

Time after time after time, seemingly ad infinitum, the cycle -- and the fact that this cycle even exists is part of the tragedy -- continues.  It starts with a tragedy and ends with nothing done.

News reports on this tragedy said that the shooter was a lone gunman.  In fact, many of these senseless mass shootings have, as the perpetrator, what the press describes as a lone gunman.  Now, before you think I have gone off my rocker, yes, there was one person in Parkland, and Las Vegas, and Aurora, and at Sandy Hill Elementary, and so on, who pulled the trigger(s).  Wouldn't that mean it was a lone gunman?  Yes and no.  One person fired the weapon(s), but there were accomplices.  If anyone knows or follows any news story of a tragedy or any wrongdoing, accomplices are always sought after as well ... except when it comes to gun violence in America.

If no one was in the high school in Parkland with the shooter, or in the hotel room in Las Vegas, or in the movie theater in Aurora, or in the halls of Sandy Hill, then who are the accomplices of these shooters?  There are three that comprise a triad of terror ...

The NRA, gun manufacturers, and the U.S. government.

The National Rifle Association, which began to promote rifle safety, has become, while ironically still promoting the same, deeply involved in the promotion of sales of firearms to the mass public by means of loosening or removing gun control laws and regulations.  Their methods include lobbying and political contributions in the millions of dollars.

Gun manufacturers, who lobby Congress along with the NRA, want to see regulations and laws relaxed and removed because such regulations and laws impede on their profitability.  (Although they are quite profitable, nonetheless.)  Think of it in terms of sanctions against another country.  If you are in business, as are the gun manufacturers, and you are there in make a profit, which is one of the reasons to go into business, why would you want to see your bottom line limited?

The U.S. government is probably the worst of this triad of terror, as they are swayed to do the work of the above two members of the triad and the work of themselves instead of the work of the people.  Over and over, gun laws that are in place are altered or relaxed.  Gun laws that need to be updated because the weapons and amount of accessibility have changed are never updated.  Loopholes at gun shows (which, in many states, operate like an open black market for arming vigilantes), which should have never been in place, are allowed to remain in place.

Gun manufacturers will simple say they are in business and their business happens to be firearms.  When suggestions of safety measures, such as smart gun technology, is suggested, they pose a threat to profitability.  Add that technology, it adds to the cost of the guns, and then the guns might become less accessible to the masses.  That is not what they call in business cost effectiveness.  So, the gun manufacturers stand back and say we just want to make our money.

The NRA, as well as other lobbying groups, and members of the U.S. government have their fallback position they obsessively throw into the face of those who disagree with them ... the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Oh, we can't impinge on freedom...  People have a right...  Do that and it's government overreach...  On and on and on and on and on they go.  Groups including the NRA tout such ominous, but immeasurably untrue, slogans such as "Freedom's Safest Place", "Fierce Defender of American Liberty", "Frontline Defenders", and "Guardians of the Republic".

They are all contributing to what I called last Fall as "death-for-profit".  Add up all of the members of Congress to the number of members and staff of gun right organizations, and add that to the number of those who own and run gun manufacturers.  That number is much lower than the remaining total number of men, women, and children in this country.  Significantly lower. 

Stop and think of all the profits we represent to the gun manufacturers, the NRA, and the Congress.

These murderers have the full support of the triad of terror and, sadly, that support does not appear to be changing any time soon.  The next time -- and yes, sadly, there will be a next time -- when the news reporters and pundits mention "lone gunman", keep in mind that they have lots of backers.  They have lots of support.

They are never truly alone.

Terry