Apparently we do have short attention spans
Mar 27, 2013, 8:18 PM
Just three months ago, a deranged gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
After it was over, 28 people, including the shooter, lay dead. Almost immediately we heard politicians, community leaders and regular voices calling for change in our nation’s gun laws.
I’ll concede that it’s a standard reaction to tragedy to over-react by passing more laws (see 9/11) and that some of the measures discussed actually had some merit, regardless of the fact they would not have prevented the Sandy Hook shooting, nor would the stop the next criminal act.
But none of that matters now.
As Politico points out, with all the talk of “doing something” in response to this, and other, horrible tragedies, not one piece of legislation has been passed by Congress. Zip, nada, nil.
And maybe that’s a good thing, as recent polling suggests that just 100 days removed the shooting in Newtown, public support for stricter gun control laws has dropped by more than 10 points and is under 50 percent, 47 percent to be exact.
I think it points to the larger issue of “crisis du jour.” People get all worked up over the topic of the day and demand change from their elected leaders only to get quickly distracted by the next Kardashian wedding or hurricane.
And maybe that’s a good thing. Because if your values and principles can’t remain top of mind for more than 90 days, maybe they aren’t ALL that important to you.
