For the disaffected, the U.S. offers a menu of whom to hate: African-Americans, women, LGBTQ folks, Muslims, Jews, Latinos, government workers, among others. Early Sunday morning, Omar Mateen aimed his anger and hatred at the LGBTQ community. Forty-nine dead, over 50 injured in a matter of minutes.
In Charleston, South Carolina, 2015, a disaffected young man selected a group of African-Americans gathered in a bible study group. He murdered nine. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2015, another disaffected man killed three Muslim students. In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, 2012, a White Supremacist shot and killed six people at a Sikh Temple. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2015, an anti-abortionist shot and killed three people at a Planned Parenthood Clinic. In New Mexico, 2016, a husband and father was charged with the murder of his wife and four daughters, three days after the Orlando massacre.
In the U.S., the disaffected are offered an easily available and lethal means to express their anger and hatred: guns. To kill more in a short time, military-style assault weapons can be purchased. The popular AR-15, used by Omar Mateen, shoots eight rounds per second. That’s 240 rounds per minute. 1200 rounds in five minutes. It enables one lone gunman to murder 49 people and injure 53 in less than a minute (I don’t know how long it took Mateen). Americans own 10 to 12 million AR-15s. When was the last time you heard of someone with an AR-15 preventing a massacre?
And who will be next target – for there will be a next time?