Madness.  Do we really expect different results from the same pointless histrionics, meaningless prayers, and policy shrugs?  We know what the problem is: lax, absurdly-permissive gun laws that allow anyone and everyone to buy dangerous weapons that they use to kill our children, our grandparents, our communities of color or worship.  The US has no greater proportion of mentally ill, unstable, or aggrieved people.  It’s the guns, stupid.  We have decided, for some inane reason, to provide virtually unfettered access to the means with which to kill multitudes.  The problem is also a national one, requiring national solutions and therefore federal action.  California can have the most restrictive, most sensible gun laws on the books, but if a deranged Californian can easily cross into irresponsible Nevada to buy an AR-15, it makes little difference.

This American problem has international repercussions as well, as our irresponsible gun laws and easy access to a range of firearms continue to arm Mexican drug cartels and fuel violence here in Mexico, my country of residence.  In a parallel tragedy, 11 people were killed yesterday in cartel-related violence in the state of Guanajuato, made possible in large part by the massive cross-border flow of weapons from the United States.  The Mexican Government has even sued US gun companies over the issue.  These are the facts: our reckless, irresponsible gun policies are killing tens of thousands of people across multiple countries.  And one of our political parties doesn’t give a shit about it.

At this point, only the Democratic Party is willing to act to change our gun laws, and only the elimination of the filibuster will allow it.  We could have universal background checks tomorrow if we kill the filibuster.  We could have an assault weapons ban.  Provisions banning those with mental health issues, histories of domestic violence, and others with criminal records from gaining access to dangerous firearms.  Two intransigent senators are all that stand between us and meaningful change.  Because as the Republican Party has made abundantly clear, they do not give a fuck.

I don’t know individual Republicans politicians personally, so I can’t definitively say that they don’t care about all of these senseless gun deaths.  What I do know is that they value their elected positions more than they value human life.  And this is an unacceptable, shameful calculus.  They kowtow to the NRA and to extreme gun rights advocates to sidestep any meaningful discussion of sensible gun control or any real policy change that can address the problem.  Because the evidence is clear: gun control policies lead to fewer gun deaths both domestically and abroad.  Gutless partisan hacks like Ted Cruz have already been seen spouting the nonsensical “we shouldn’t politicize this issue after a tragedy” line.  Yes for God’s sake!  Yes, we absolutely should politicize this issue because it has already been thoroughly politicized.  Only one of our major political parties refuses to act on data and common sense to abate the next massacre.  And after a tragedy is precisely the time to act.

There is plenty of international precedent for acting quickly and decisively after a mass shooting.  Australia did just this in 1996, to clear, demonstrated positive effect after the Port Arthur massacre.  New Zealand also took strong action to enact strong gun control laws in the immediate aftermath of the Christchurch attack in 2019.  Both witnessed bi-partisan cooperation under leadership from the right (John Howard in Australia) and the left (Jacinda Arden in New Zealand) to enact swift, meaningful changes in gun control and ownership laws.  Unfortunately, the Democratic Party does not have a rational, responsible partner in opposition and so it must be circumvented.  Which brings us back to killing the filibuster.

Democrats will likely not be in this position of strength for several electoral cycles to come.  Twelve years ago (2008-2010) was the last time that Democrats simultaneously held the presidency and both houses of Congress, and the gross democratic misrepresentation of the Electoral College and the Senate means that, despite large popular majorities and more popular policies (like, for example, universal background checks and safe, legal abortion), it is unlikely to do so again in the near future.  We should not hesitate any longer to use the full power of these majorities.  Because the next time the Republicans have this advantage, Mitch McConnell will not hesitate to do so, lest you forget the Merrick Garland affair.  If the Democrats act decisively, they can finally, decades late but better than never, enact sensible, strong gun control laws.  Moreover, they can act on other long-standing issues like climate, voting rights, parental leave, and the myriad other issues that Republicans continue to block.

The naysayers will undoubtedly protest that Republicans can and will use the lack of a filibuster to push through odious future policies.  This is assuredly so.  But policies, once enacted, are harder to repeal than they are to pass initially. Witness the Affordable Care Act.  We should not let worrisome hypothetical future policies deter us from taking necessary, decisive, life-saving action in the present.  In the face of cowardice and the absence of the leadership from the right, we should act boldly from the left.  We will likely lose the House come November, but at least we will have shown our voters that we stand for something and are not afraid to use our offices to benefit our constituents when strong action was required.  It may even energize our voters and give them a reason to turn out and vote for Democrats, rather than simply against Republicans.

Now is the time to be bold.  Our politicians failed us and our children after Sandy Hook.  And we let them.  We cannot let them fail us again.  Because our children will continue asking us why we keep letting this happen.  And we need to have a better answer.