Yesterday’s racist terrorist attack in Buffalo was the 198th mass shooting in 2022. With 19 weeks into the year, this averages out to about 10 such attacks a week. The hand ringing has already begun but the likelihood of any federal or state action on gun control is slim to none. Too many in Congress, Democrats and Republicans are still in the pocket of the NRA and midterm elections are coming up. So I expect the trend to continue under our current failed political leadership.
The killer of 10 Black people in yesterday's attack was a white supremacist teen who has previously threatened to shoot up his high school. Yet, he had easy access to body armor and an AR-15 assault weapon.
The latest attack follows by three days a ruling by the U.S. appeals court that California’s ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons to adults younger than 21 is unconstitutional.
Handgun sales to those under 21 were already prohibited in the state, but the stricter age limits for rifles and shotguns were passed in 2018 after some of the nation’s worst mass shootings were committed by young adults using rifles, including the Valentine’s Day 2018 slayings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Trump-appointed Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.”
During his one term in office, Trump nominated 274 individuals to federal judgeships and made 245 judicial appointments.
I have nothing else to add.