By Gene Kemmeter

Another 31 people were massacred last weekend in two separate, horrific incidents as the nation experienced another round of mass shootings in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH. The 22 deaths in El Paso were just one less than the 23 gunshot deaths in all of 2018 in the city.

Politicians quickly took to the microphones to decry the tragedies, mouthing the oft-repeated phrases that the nation needs to halt all the mindless violence. They step forward to say the deaths are the result of senseless crimes, but notice how many fail to mention those deaths were the result of guns, which in the weekend’s cases, were again assault rifles, not hunting weapons.

Most shy away from calling for stricter gun controls, even though polls throughout the country have found more than 60 percent of the population support controls. The Senate Majority leader has even blocked the Senate from considering a nonpartisan House bill since it was passed in February.

The gutless politicians just seem to say the tragedies are beyond explanation, so all the nation can do is grieve. They point to mental health or other issues as the cause, apparently failing to realize a person can’t be shot with a finger.

In a nation that claims to respect life for the unborn, how can its residents leave the perception that its population doesn’t care about those who survive infancy, they’re just allowed to live to become future victims of gun violence?

Let’s face it, mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States. Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a not-for-profit corporation, was formed in 2013 in Washington, D.C., solely to collect data about shootings. It provides free online public access to information about mass shootings in the United States.

GVA defines a mass shooting as a shooting in which four or more people were injured or killed in one location, excluding the subject/suspect/perpetrator. So far in 2019, GVA reports 255 mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Aug. 4, the 215th day of the year, leaving more than 520 people dead in the shootings and at least 2,000 injured, according to the report.

About 18 months ago, people were questioning  if the Feb. 14, 2018, tragedy in Parkland, FL, on the heels of the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre in Las Vegas, NV., and the Nov. 5, 2017, shooting in Sutherland Springs, TX, would change people’s minds and result in an assault weapons ban.

A concerted effort to bring about gun control by determined students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland was joined by fellow students around the country, but ultimately they got nowhere against the powers that be. They even faced unrelenting criticism and mocking from gun supporters.

The continuing proliferation of guns and a change in society has added a more life-threatening aspect to citizens and to the duties in law enforcement. Today, officers routinely wear bulletproof vests daily for protection while on duty, something officers 20 years ago seldom, if ever, had to do.

Back in the good old days of the Wild West of the 1800s, a sheriff or marshal could require guns to be checked at the outskirts of town to avoid violence and level the playing field between unarmed foes. Defenders of the Second Amendment rule that out today, saying every American is entitled to a gun, even one that’s concealed.