I find it very telling of our culture that in the weeks after yet another mass shooting, instead of having a heartfelt discussion about reasonable gun control measures and mental health services in this country, we are talking about a flag. Regardless of where you stand on the flag issue, removing the flag from various courthouses is not going to be what prevents another mass shooting, something that is becoming a distinctly 'American-style' tragedy. It does make for a great distraction issue so we can all pat ourselves on the back and feel good about doing something that accomplishes nothing. If we are going to remove the Confederate flag because some people find it hurtful and offensive, fine. But I feel like we as Americans will do what we always do. We will take down this flag, wipe our hands on our jeans, and declare the problem solved, and not discuss any of the HARD issues, until perhaps our next mass shooting incident in a month or two.
It's so hard to have a discussion in our culture without everything becoming so "all or nothing." I am in favor of basic gun safety requirements, like requiring extensive training classes to own a gun, and requiring conceal carry permit holders to have to pass accuracy and safety tests every 3 years to maintain their permit. But somehow, anytime I bring any of that stuff up, I become some dirty liberal here to take everyone's 'God-given' gun rights away, despite living in a household myself that contains guns, despite having taken conceal carry classes myself. As a nation, we rarely even make it so far as to discuss changes in our mental health services, because we get hung up on screaming at each other about the guns.
The fact remains that while mass shootings do happen in other countries, they happen in America with an alarming frequency that doesn't befall other first world nations. Removing some flags isn't going to change it.