Once again we saw reports of another mass shooting — this time in Odessa, TX, where a gunman went on a shooting rampage after a police stop. As a result, five people died, and 21 are wounded, as of this writing.

I won’t belabor you with any details of the event. Instead, here’s a video which briefly outlines the shooting.

Needless to say, however, liberal ghouls emerged from under their rocks, gleefully taking political advantage of this terrible situation.

Like Texan Beto O’Rourke, for example. Flailing and dropping f-bombs before a sycophantic audience, he said that “this is f***ed up,” and “this has to stop in this country.”

Beto O'Rourke: "Not sure how many gunmen. Not sure how many people have been shot. Don’t know how many people have been killed. The condition of those who have survived… But we do know this is —-ed up. We do know that this has to stop in this country." https://t.co/aLFgZOSN1M pic.twitter.com/dRP5KkkvxZ

— The Hill (@thehill) September 1, 2019

Well, I would agree with Robert Francis that what the gunman did was indeed “f***ed up.” But how does Beto, if he were POTUS, propose to curb these shootings?

Easy — here’s his clever plan. Just a few hours before the Odessa shooting, Beto told a reporter in Charlottesville, NC, that “we need to buy back every assault weapon.”

“I want to be really clear that that’s exactly what we are going to do. If you own an AK-47 or AR-15, you’ll have to sell them to the government.”

Oh really. And how does he propose to force citizens to sell their weapons — at the point of a gun?

But Cory “Spartacus” Booker plans to go one step further: he’s gonna close those “loopholes” at gun sales and lower the boom on gun manufacturers.

“Beginning on Day One in office, I will take executive action to reduce gun violence—closing dangerous loopholes in gun sales, cracking down on gun manufacturers, and investing in communities impacted by gun violence.”

So basically he plans to interfere with a legal industry using executive orders. How. . . fascist of him.

And of course, there’s the perennial would-be gun-grabber, Shannon Watts, who used the shooting of a 17-month-old baby in Odessa to shame TX Gov. Greg Abbott:

.@GovAbbott: A 17-month-old baby was shot in the face in Odessa. How does gun violence fit into your so-called pro-life agenda? #txlege https://t.co/abPpZOHhqx

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 31, 2019

Watts, I believe, is the biggest ghoul of them all. Shame on her. Shame on them all for using tragedy to score political points.

But let’s imagine a world in which these people achieve all their legislative desires. And when all their beloved gun laws don’t stop shootings, then what?

Credit: Christopher Dombres/flickr/public domain.

It will be time to take away all weapons because it’s the only way to stop the madness, they’ll say. That’s what Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela, as a matter of fact.

I recently had the privilege of hearing a naturalized American from Venezuela speak on how Chavez destroyed his nation. Interestingly, this man — now the successful owner of a Kansas City media group — told us that Chavez played the same refrain as our Left does. “There are too many shootings,” Chavez told Venezuelans. So his government snatched up citizens’ guns.

And how did that all work out for Venezuela? Look at that country today, and you tell me.

No, gun control will not end incidents like Odessa, or El Paso, or Dayton. The problem is not guns, but the society behind them.

In our self-absorbed America, we have lost respect for each other. Moreover, we’ve even lost respect for life itself.

The Democratic Party, for example, has zealously pushed for abortion at any time, for any reason, no matter how close to birth a baby might be. Hollywood actresses celebrate their past abortions, including Alyssa Milano, who said that if she hadn’t had her two abortions, her “life would be completely lacking.”

So self-absorbed, with no respect for life.

And what about respect for fellow humans? Go on Twitter, a so-called “social” media site which is anything but social. It is, in fact, a cesspool, where keyboard warriors don’t merely agree to disagree about politics. No, they urge opponents to “die in a fire,” and call them “fascists” or “Nazis,” or other charming epithets.

Even worse, radicals from both the right and left clash in the streets, starting riots and pounding each other into the concrete.

As for religious faith being the great societal force which promotes self-control and respect for others — not only has its influence waned, its detractors have become downright hostile. The media celebrate famous believers who publicly left their faith. And on the morning of the Odessa shooting, the New York Times published an opinion piece entitled, “Why People Hate Religion.” It’s no longer enough to ignore religious beliefs — now the woke must pound them into oblivion. So while the self-absorbed have lost God, they have made themselves God.

But political ghouls have a little secret — the egocentric are not God after all. The government is God. And they want us all to think that events like Odessa will stop if we just bow the knee to their all-powerful overlords.

Featured image: “Knotted Gun” at United Nations/JasonParis/flickr/cropped/CC BY 2.0.