Crocodile tears for Uvalde

 

 

Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, wrote Francois de La Rochefoucauld. It seems sad but true that, in times of tragedies, the revolting habit of politicians and pundits to use misfortunes for political halo-polishing is inevitably displayed.

 

The Uvalde shooting, where 19 children and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old shooter, underscores the withered hearts and naked hypocrisy of some in the public sphere.

 

The prime example is Beto O’Rouke, who saw fit to grandstand during a press conference held by the Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the shooting, which only happened two days before. Attended by many mourning relatives and friends of the deceased, the failed presidential candidate, who is now running for the governorship in Texas, interrupted proceedings to accuse the governor of being responsible for the tragedy, saying:

 

“This is totally predictable, when you choose not to do anything to save the kids in this state.”

 

How it was predicable was not explained. What can be done was not clarified. But what O’Rouke did get is a photo op and fawning coverage by the leftist media, while insulting the quiet dignity of the families of the deceased.

 

Less odious but equally opportunistic was Meghan Markle, who flew three hours to Texas for a photo op, while not visiting her own father, who is in hospital after suffering a stroke in California, her home state.

 

In the highly polarized media mélange, even the usual few days of pretend unity after such a tragedy was foregone. Pundits immediately assigned blame and wailed empty platitudes like Mr O’Rouke. Largely, the blame is said to be at the feet of Republicans or anyone who is for the Second Amendment. President Biden added his own to the heap, saying that:

 

“Where in God’s name is our backbone, the courage to do more and then stand up to the lobbies? It’s time to turn this pain into action.”

 

But do what exactly? No one seem to have any actual proposals. Yet everyone wishes to look the most virtuous. Amidst the cacophony, it’s almost forgotten that the person responsible is the man who shot his grandmother in the face and killed innocent children and teachers in his community.

 

While the ultimate responsibility is his, there are plenty of points in the system that broke down to facilitate the massacre. It has come to light that the perpetrator had shown various signs of violence and sociopathy, but none of his family or friends intervened or reported this. While he went on his rampage, Uvalde’s school district police chief refused to allow his officers to engage the shooter for an hour, while also stopping anxious parents from helping their children. It was Border Patrol agents who eventually breached the locked door and shot the perpetrator.

 

While in the grips of raw emotions, it is cold comfort to examine facts. But the truth is that school shootings are actually rare, even in the US, with more than 400 million guns in circulation. And a proper understanding of this can help inoculate against the histrionic showboating of politicians and opportunistic journalists.

 

A 2018 study that examined global rates of mass public shootings from 1998 to 2015 found that the US made up 1.15% of all mass public shootings, less than the US’s share of 4.6% of world population. Of the 97 countries examined, the US ranked 64^th in the per capita frequency of these attacks.

 

A 2015 study by the pro-gun nonprofit Crime Prevention Research Center compared the annual number of mass shooting deaths per million population between the US, Canada, and European countries, from 2009 to 2015. The US ranked 11 out of 18 in terms of annual death rate and 12^th for the frequency of mass public shootings, better than Finland, Norway, Belgium, France, and Switzerland.

 

Another factor to take into consideration is terminology. Looking at the 24 school shootings in the US in 2019, for example, one notices that many of the cases were domestic violence or criminal incidents that just happened to take place in school grounds, such as school car parks. Five children were killed from these incidents. Compared to this, in Chicago alone, 36 children under 18 were shot and killed in 2019. In 2021, that number was 59. The fact that these were mostly not ‘school shootings’ is surely beside the point. Yet no indignant hollering by the media or Beto O’Rouke is ever heard about the record-breaking homicide rates in the exclusively Democrat-run city.

 

And the solution is unlikely to be as simple as gun control, idée fixe of the Democrats. Murder is already illegal, yet there were 21,570 recorded murders in the US in 2020. Just as most public mass shootings occur in gun-free zones, people aiming to commit crimes are by definition not those who will abide laws. This is why despite having the strictest gun laws in the US, California leads the nation in the number of school shootings.

 

Uncomfortable though it may be, the notion that is often mocked by left wing pundits, that a good guy with a gun is what is needed to stop a bad guy with a gun, is actually exactly how the vast majority of these incidents are resolved. The fact that the Uvalde police did not intervene sooner has rightly caused much outrage, and is likely why there were so many deaths.

 

Almost to prove this point, two days after the Uvalde shooting, a woman who was legally carrying a pistol stopped a would-be mass shooter who opened fire at a crowd of people in Charleston, West Virginia. No one was killed other than the shooter.

 

Many people outside the US may not appreciate its Second Amendment. However, even beside the founding idea that the government should not be the only ones with guns, it should not be forgotten that defensive gun use is estimated to save around 162,000 lives a year.

 

While there is clearly no easy solution for a problem as complex as school shootings, some things that clearly need addressing may include institutions that promote stronger communities and less family breakdowns so that red flags may be noticed; better school provisions to detect and engage young people with signs of aggression, sociopathy, and psychopathy; changes in mental health statutes so that those who are unstable and a danger to the community can be involuntarily committed and assessed; raising the age of legal gun ownership; better screening and training of gun buyers; and better training for police and security staff at schools.

 

The round-the-clock media saturation may also deserve scrutiny, as studies have shown that heightened coverage of such cases inspire copycats.

 

What is impeding these discussions is clearly not a difference of opinion between people who are anti-school shootings and those who are pro-school shootings, but that seems to be the level at which the mass media is operating. Those who are shedding crocodile tears over Uvalde, but who are secretly looking to profit from it, are the ones who are preventing adult conversations and solutions.