With every dumbass who pulls one and kills a bunch of people because he’s pissed off, or can’t cope, or just felt like it today, it feels more and more like we’re really not having this conversation hard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a topic so assiduously avoided, as is the topic of guns these days, one mass shooting after another.

We talk about security and we talk about “mental health services,” as if metal detectors and anti-depressants are what shot a bunch of people dead. We talk about creating a national list of nutters, because that has never once in history gone bad. We talk about everything but the guns and how easy they are to get and use and shoot to kill people. We talk about everything but the guns and, to an even lesser extent, the bullets.

Because we don’t want to be “political.”

“Security” is political. Where are the checkpoints? Who’s in charge of them? How deep can they frisk you and for what reasons? Which sites warrant metal detectors and which don’t?

Mental health serices are political. What do we require insurance companies cover? What do we provide for the poor? What do we consider legitimate illnesses and what medications do we approve for them? How do we license doctors and where do we site hospitals?

I am running out of goddamned patience with people in politics, people who cover politics, people who make money and feed their families because of politics, acting like politics is the 8th deadly sin. We’re a political goddamn country, what is so wrong with everything being “political?” Everything is. We live in a democracy and we have a say in frickin’ everything.

Why is “political” terrible? Why is “political” off limits, anyway? Let’s grant that guns get people a little more het up than normal things; that being the case, who cares if people get upset?

You don’t want your entire life infected with politics? I hear Somalia is lovely this time of year. As a bonus, your guns will come in mighty handy there.

A.