Satirical website The Onion made a bold statement on Wednesday, covering its homepage with its gut-wrenching article titled, “’No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Happens.”
The article gets repurposed for each major mass shooting that occurs in the United States, with only the date, location and number of causalities changing each time – a striking and horrific statement about how often this tragedy occurs.
“In the hours following a violent rampage in Texas in which a lone attacker killed at least 21 individuals and injured several others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Tuesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place,” the latest version of the article begins, pointing to the tragedy that left at least 19 children dead.
The article continues: “’This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,’ said Idaho resident Kathy Miller, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations.”
Versions of the same article appear 21 times on the homepage, each pointing to a different mass shooting in the United States. Below that, the homepage is further filled out by devastatingly satirical articles about the NRA.
President Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday evening from the White House. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone, the courage to do more and then stand up to the lobbies?” he said during his remarks. “It’s time to turn this pain into action, for every parent, for every citizen in this country. We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country that it’s time to act.”
