I was going to follow up with a few more reflections on the AI revolution that has been capturing so much attention these days, and which I have touched on more than once. As is often the case, my restless mind was captured by several news items of the moment … current headlines that beg for comment.

In Florida, two crazies traveling on the highway with their families got into a Macho one upmanship game that oft leads to road rage. And it did. After the usual dodge-em antics, one threw a full water bottle into the other car which escalated the incident to an exchange of gunfire. The victims were two children, one of the daughters in each car. Fortunately, they will survive but will likely be scarred by the incident.

Then we have the story of Ralph Paul Yarl. He was a 16 year old black student in Missouri who was sent by his mother to pick up his younger siblings. Described by a former teacher as a ‘gifted student and gentle soul’ he mistakingly went to a house located on a Street when he should have gone to the same address on a Terrace, a mistake any of us might make. The elderly white owner of the residence, seeing a Black youth ringing his door bell, immediately opened fire. He hit the boy twice.

Just another day in America. At least the victims above are alive. In Dadeville Alabama, a gunman opened up at a Sweet Sixteen party. So far, four are dead and over two dozen wounded. As of this writing little is known about the perpetrator or any motives but this shooting took place in a town of 3,000 not known for vilolence. Those slain seem, at first glance, to be your average youth enjoying a joyous event. It is the 160th mass shooting of 2023, and we are not yet one-third the way through the calendar year. God Bless America!

Why do these things happen so often in the ‘land of the free and home of the brave?’ In the road rage incident, the usual frustrations associated with traveling on busy roads was elevated to an almost lethal level by our easy access to guns. Don’t leave home without your weapon. In the case of the black teen picking up his siblings, it likely was a case of pure racism. What else could a black teen at your door be but a gang banger intent on conducting a home invasion? Grab your weapon and blast away, ask questions later.

Our divided country is being brought to a boil with over 300 million firearms being added to the lethal broth. The NRA would have everyone armed and ready for conflict. Florida has a ‘stand your ground’ law which apparenly permitted one of the ‘crazies’ to fire back at the person who threw a water bottle at him. I recall the debate in Wisconsin where Republican lawmakers argued that students on campus should carry concealed weapons. His rationale … absent that, the crroks would know that students would be easy targets. Like I had any money when I was in college. On the other hand, as a professor, I doubt I would have given out any grade below an A.

The Alabama mass shooting is of a somewhat different nature. In the first two, there were no fatalities, simply wounded bodies and psyches that will need much time to repair. But 4 dead and some 28 wounded is another level of carnage. The first two will hardly be reflected in the national shame but mass murders do become part of the score by which we measure our soul and our moral culpability. I don’t need to provide the data. We all know that one dimension of our country’s ‘exceptionalism’ is our front-runner’s place (among advanced nations )in per-capita gun violence, and by a very large margin. We should be so proud. We also lead the world in the incarceration levels of our citizens. I soon expect to see travel posters saying, ‘need a break from the violence here … visit Somalia for a safe getaway‘ (relatively speaking that is).

But here is the real story today. A new Alabama law that took effect in January allows ‘anyone 18 and over to carry a handgun in the state without a permit or a background check or any safety training.’ Not even in Dodge City, the famous cattle town of the 1880s, were gun laws so lax. There, guns were not permitted within the city limits (the famous Western shootout at the Okay Corral occured when the cowboys violated the local gun restriction ordinance.)

Republicans continue to fall all over themselves in the race to make gun violence our national pastime. When will enough be enough, when each and every citizens ir armed with his or her own tank and rocket launcher? Perhaps they will pass laws requiring everyone be armed in public, particularly if gun sales flag. At the recent NRA gathering, a Republican Governor bragged to the assembly that her 2-year old daughter already owned her own weapons. She should be able to shoot her teacher at six years of age with considerable skill, just as a recent toddler did.

What was the initial response by local officials to this tragedy in Alabama. One said, “the best you can do is love your kids, let them know how much you are there for them, and be there for them.” Nice sentiment but not of much use when a bullet is ripping through their flesh and internal organs. Another offered these inspired words. “We’ve got to pray our way out of this. There is no other way.” Really, they can’t think of anything else to do? Good thing they were not in any of my policy classes since the dumbest students I had could think up a whole bunch of things to do beyond useless thoughts and prayers. We could start by reversing the trend toward arming everyone to the teeth. Remember, the above cited examples to the contrary, the vast majority of gun deaths are self-inflicted or by someone known to the victim. The ‘good guy’ acting as a vigilante stopping a ‘bad guy’ is a myth propogated to sell more instruments of death.

Alabama already ranked in the bottom (WORST) five in per-capita gun violence. No surprise there but let’s look more broadly at the state level data. Focusing on gun deaths per 100,000 citizens, what can we see? At the top of the list (MOST VIOLENT), we find (in alphabetical order) Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisianna, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Now let’s look at the states at the bottom (LEAST VIOLENT), at least in terms of gun-related deaths. We find California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode island. The Bay State, where I was raised, was the least violent jurisdiction in the nation. How about that! And Boston has the craziest drivers in the country, with my home town of Worcester ranked second (Note: I do not second-guess their high spots for a nano-second). What would happen if all thes drivers were packing heat and Mass had a ‘stand your ground’ law like the Sunshine state. The bodies would be stacked up in the streets.

What jumps out at you. It strikes me that you take your life in your own hands when you cross into Republican controlled areas. The old saw of ‘guns saving lives’ is an NRA talking point, nothing more. It is merely bullshit that survives despite all the evidence to the contrary. Where are you safer, acording to the data at least … in blue states controlled largely by Democrats who are desperately trying to keep national Republicans from turning the whole country into a free fire zone. I’m not sure we have to worry about the AI machines rising up, or any apocolyptic climactic disaster, or some global biological pathogen created in some secret Chinese laboratory. Forget about those ends to the human experiment. We will have killed each other off before any of those things happen, one shootout at a time.

Okay, I’m getting too cranky here but I’m old and that is my right. Time for a joke:

Passing an office building, a Republican and strong MAGA supporter saw a sign on the door thar said ‘press bell for night watchman.’

He did so, and after several minutes heard the watchman clomping down the stairs. The uniformed man proceeded to unlock first one gate, then another, before shutting down the alarm system. Finally, the guard made his way to the revolving door.

“Well,” the irritated guard snarled, “what do you want?”

The Republican replied, “For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out why you couldn’t ring the bell by yourself.”

You are spared more humor since I am off to see another doctor this morning, also routine. It does take a village of medical professionals to keep me vertical and able to take nourishment. Some days, given the insanity I see about me, I question whether that is even worth the effort!