I was close to one of the US gun massacres. ‘Thoughts and prayers’ did nothing

At the time of writing, 40,252 Americans have died by gunshot this year – 21,912 by suicide, the remaining 18,340 killed unintentionally or murdered. More than 1500 of those were aged between 0 and 17.

This will be the third consecutive year of more than 600 mass shootings in the United States. We hear of some; the vast majority don’t make it into the margins. There’s just not enough room.

Twenty-one people were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May this year. Credit: AP

Of all the glorified hallmarks of capitalist consumerism in the land of the supposedly free, firearms might just be the apex of the American dream, ironically. There are more civilian weapons than civilians, at an estimated average of 120.5 privately owned guns per 100 people. Words like “hobby” and “interest” just don’t fly anymore. Sure, not every American is a gun owner. But guns aren’t quite the same thing as stamps or motorbikes or dildos. They’re killing machines. That’s what they are designed for, and semi-automatic weapons are specifically designed for killing people.

“This morning the victims and their families are in my prayers. This lawless violence needs to end and end quickly.” These were the condolences offered by Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert after a recent tragedy in which five were killed and at least 18 injured at an LGBTQ nightclub in her home state.

Let’s take a closer look at Boebert’s words, starting with “lawless violence”. That’s a funny coupling. What constitutes lawful violence? Police brutality?

In July, Boebert released a book, An American Life. During a promotional interview with Steve Bannon, she spoke of staying connected to her community, her grassroots approach to politicking and her refusal to be bought by lobbyists in Washington. Only, the foreword to An American Life is written by Ted Cruz. According to data obtained by the political funding tracker OpenSecrets, and published on the anti-gun violence site Brady United, Ted Cruz has received $US176,274 ($264,229) in donations from the National Rifle Association over the course of his career as a senator for Texas, where the average annual number of gun deaths is 3647.

Then again, Cruz is all the way down at No. 22 on the NRA’s list of political priorities. Leading the charge is Utah’s Senator Mitt Romney, who served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003-07 but, perhaps more importantly to the NRA, ran a presidential campaign in 2012. NRA backing for Romney totals $US13,647,676. The top 16 NRA earners have raked in more than $US1 million each.

Boebert isn’t on that list, yet. But this is the same Lauren Boebert who, with her husband, owned a gun-themed restaurant called Shooters Grill, where the wait staff carried guns. Last December, she shared a photo on Instagram of herself and her four children holding semi-automatic rifles while standing in front of their Christmas tree.

Thanks to the NRA – let’s call it Nihilists Run America – many Americans would seem to be addicted to firearms, to the point of needing rehab. Try substituting the word gun for another lethal product and it starts to sound absurd, even in America. Pose in Christmas photos with your kids wielding rat poison. Sleep next to a safe packed with 37 different types of rat poison. Wander the local rat poison fair with your rat poison in your rat poison holster. March in the streets for the right to bear rat poison.

Elliot Rodger killed six and injured 14 in Isla Vista in 2014.

I lived in the US for almost six years. It’s my second home. I moved there at 18 and studied at a community college in Santa Barbara, perhaps one of – if not the – safest counties in the country. I’ll never forget the night of the tragedy in Isla Vista in 2014. The caution tape. The marshall knocking on the door of our friend’s house to tell us we couldn’t yet leave to go home. My roommate Josue and I were ordering our dinner at Freebirds restaurant when 22-year-old Elliot Rodger drove past on his murder spree. He stabbed, shot and rammed people with his car, killing six and injuring 14, before killing himself. It was his retribution against women because they’d rejected him, and against men because they weren’t all likewise rejected.

Semi-automatic rifles fill a wall at a gun shop in Lynnwood, Washington.Credit: AP

You’d be hard-pressed to find an urban place or person unaffected by the stains of bloodshed in America. In Australia, I don’t take our relative peace for granted. At 25 million, our population isn’t even two-thirds of California’s. And California is just one of 50 states.

The US is home to more than 332 million people and, when you factor in the firearms per capita, it’s idealistic to imagine a solution – such as John Howard’s ban and buyback scheme in response to the Port Arthur massacre in my home state of Tasmania – might work there. Not when you factor in the cult of the gun in America. A collective desperation underpins the notion that guns are a human right, to be protected by the constitution. It’s tribal.

Relentless calls for reform in the US just as relentlessly go unanswered. Politicians like Lauren Boebert show the national problem is pathological. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my years of campaigning, it’s that no contribution is too small. Reform is needed – not in the future but immediately. There’s no logical reason a nation of 332 million people should have 400 million guns. You can’t fight fire with fire. And fighting firearms with firearms is called a war.

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