I believe that I may have written 100 stories about mass shootings in my career as a writer. This fact makes me sad. A serious problem has become a national emergency. A ‘mass shooting’ is defined as ‘four or more innocent Americans being harmed or killed by an individual or individuals using a gun or guns in a single incident.’ For the last two years, America has experienced more mass shootings than days on the calendar.

Approximately 1:30 on Sunday morning at least one shooter entered a bar in Kansas City, Kansas, and in just a couple of minutes shot nine people. Four of the victims died inside the bar and five were sent to a hospital in serious condition. The cowardly murderer ran away.

Ten percent of all Americans are ‘gun nuts.’ This means that 90 percent of Americans are not more concerned about their “misnamed gun rights” than the welfare of their families, friends, and neighbors. It is our right and the responsibility of our government to address our concerns.

Unfortunately the NRA gun lobby, whose sole purpose is to protect the profits of gun manufacturers and gun sellers, is one of the owners of the Republican Party. Through this lobby those who profit from gun sales donate millions of dollar to the election campaigns of right-wing politicians.

Prior to 1976 the NRA was a real gun rights and gun safety organization. It made an abrupt change when the leaders of the NRA realized there were millions of dollars to be made if they promoted gun sales and protected acts of gun violence.

The NRA is celebrating the shooting in Kansas City today. After every reported mass shootings; and only a handful are mentioned by the television media; gun sales increase.

Time for our old, mostly white, and mostly male  congress to get off of their fat a**es and do the right thing.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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