Another Miss

Written by

Today’s miss came in April Durable Goods orders: 0.4% vs 0.8% consensus (0.3% vs 0.6% for ex-transportation.)

But the real miss on everyone’s minds is the parents of those 19 children who were struck down in Uvalde, TX yesterday. Those parents will have no one to get out of bed this morning. No one to cook breakfast for or bustle off to school. No one to kiss goodbye.

I’m struck as I watch the moment of silence at the NYSE…why silence? What the companies represented in this great American institution should really do is announce that they’ll withhold all political contributions to any candidate for national, state or local office who doesn’t vote for gun reform.

I grew up in Texas where many families I knew had hunting rifles – typically a .30-06 for deer hunting, a .22 for target practice or varmints, or a 12 or 20-gauge for dove hunting. I never heard of anyone wanting or using an assault rifle or a high capacity magazine for hunting – or for defensive purposes, for that matter. It’s just plain stupid.

In a country with more guns than people, our gun problem is a needless tragedy.And, it’s coming soon to a town near you. In fact, good luck finding one that hasn’t had a violent gun death so far just this year. By the end of 2022, this map will have more than twice as many red dots, each one representing one or more lives, often children, taken by gun violence. It’s inescapable. Except for the fact that we have an election coming up – a chance for every American to break their silence and fire the politicians, bought and paid for by the gun lobby, who drone on and on about the sanctity of life but do nothing to prevent these senseless deaths. They are complicit. It’s time for them to go.