Unfortunately, any idea of really ending gun violence in the US is no more believable on April Fools day than on any other day. It’s no joke.
Not that the vast majority of Americans wouldn’t like to see that. It’s just what they want. More than 90% want universal background checks. Yet the congress is frozen in place. Iced by the NRA.
No matter how many voters want to see progress, progress – even a little bit – is unlikely. More like impossible.
Dopes.
Still, we can aspire to do what is best for the rights and safety of all – gun owners and school children and the thousands of innocents that suffer from America’s obsession with firearms.
I understand that Major League Baseball is doing a small bit. All 28 teams will wear a patch on their opening day uniforms – a black ribbon with the Newtown seal and twenty-six stars. Symbols count.
So, the many arguments have been made and entrenched positions taken. There is no need to rehash here.
But there is another notion, or set of notions to consider. This may be a time where some new capabilities, new technologies, can be brought to bear on these issues so simple (stop the violence) and complex (fix mental health, and background checks and fundamental societal values / American culture).
A December article in the Atlantic proposed that Big Data in the form of a national gun-registry database could potentially have helped to prevent Newtown.