US & New Zealand Leaders React to Mass Shootings — Blame Laying vs They Are Us

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Sometimes, the oceans of attitude and philosophy that separate two countries are far wider than the vast Pacific.

One country, plagued by an epidemic of mass shootings for decades, remains stuck in a bog of political paralysis. Another, shocked by this modern evil’s arrival on its shores, springs to action.

In the US, teenagers across the country march and shout. Students in Parkland, Florida, still mourning 17 deaths in a school shooting, board buses to the state capital of Tallahassee to call for an assault weapons ban. They soon learn that the state legislature has already rejected the proposal, while their classmates who arrived in Tallahassee early watched from a balcony in tears.

In New Zealand, teenagers throughout the land perform traditional Maori haka dances and chants, in a moving display of solidarity with their fallen countrymates. Meanwhile, adults in leadership quickly enact new gun laws in the hope of preventing future tragedies.

These two countries share a common language, many common values, and a long history of friendship. Why does the global threat of mass violence so inspiringly unify one, and so hopelessly divide the other?