LETTER: What do mass shootings have in common?

The tragic shooting in Las Vegas was America’s 628th mass shooting this year. There have been more mass shootings than days in 2023, the Gun Violence Archive reports. Three hundred and thirty five deaths and 552 injuries over the past week. Over the past year: 33,005 deaths and 64,485 injuries. Five years: 109,037 deaths and 211,096 injuries.

What do all of the mass shootings and shootings in general have in common?

1) Incompetent, greedy and unqualified lawmakers — mostly Republican but Democrats, too — federal, state and local politicians who are under the influence of the gun lobby and who are being paid and bribed to avoid passing sensible gun laws.

2) A toxic mix of men, boys and guns.

Men and boys exclusively commit mass shootings, and men and boys are overwhelmingly perpetrators of gun-related homicides in general. If American society refuses to ban all guns, then let’s start with a law preventing and prohibiting gun possession, ownership and use by men and boys. There’s enough evidence to prove that men and boys should not and cannot be trusted with guns.