Mass Shootings

“My grandmother was an angel, to have her taken in such a horrific manner is unbearable to think about.  As an immigrant, all my grandmother ever wanted in life was to grow old with my grandfather and watch her children and grandchildren live the life she never got to live,” granddaughter of murder victim Suncha Kim, 69

First it was an attack on three Asian-owned spas in the Atlanta area on march 17, taking the life of eight people, six of them of Asian descent.  Yesterday a man armed with an assault rifle entered a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, and murdered ten victims, including a police officer arriving on the scene. These atrocities occur with such frequency that, while shocking, they are hardly surprising, given the widespread ownership of firearms and the absence of gun control laws.  The city of Boulder passed an ordinance banning assault weapons, but a judge ruled it unconstitutional. Similar rulings in Indiana and elsewhere have prevented local communities such as Gary from directly confronting the epidemic of gun violence.

 

The man who attacked the three spas claimed that he acted because of a sex addiction, but all signs point to the fact that he singled out Asian establishments, some of which he may have visited. Asian-American groups and lawmakers believe that what transpired was a hate crime. While police in the past conducted raids against two of the businesses, claiming that undercover cops had been offered sex, at least half of the Asian victims were over 50 years of age, in contrast to the popular image of sex workers associated with massage parlors. I go to the Aqua Spa in Chesterton to get my toenails clipped, where most customers are women, and the atmosphere is totally on the up and up.  According to a relative of victim Xiaojie Tan, South Korean-born owner of two spas, she would throw out any customer who expected sex as part of the service.

 

Experts have concluded that the motives behind mass shootings, almost always carried out by white men, range from mental illness to political grievance.  Even though a large majority of Americans favor rational gun control measures, ranging from background checks and waiting periods to outright bans on weapons of war, the political will is lacking, combined with impediments from reactionary judges, the number of which ballooned during the Trump presidency.  After the first atrocity, Indiana governor Eric Holcomb, following President Joe Biden’s recommendation, offered prayers and that flags be flown at half-staff.  All well enough and good, but that won’t do to prevent the next tragedy.  If the deaths of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut didn’t shame lawmakers into action, I fear nothing will. Given the state of political polarization, it’s a frightening prospect.