Advertisement

Canadian among those killed in California spree; do we have a right to be shocked anymore?

George Chen, left, and Cheng Yuan Hong were the first victims of Elliot Rodger.

The Canadian response to the seemingly never-ending series of mass shootings in America tends to come from a place of not-too-distant remorse. We mourn the deaths, and share with our southern neighbours in their loss, their sadness. We share their questions and their outrage.

Even when it all happens across a border, in a land with a very different relationship with firearms, the sense is that those shootings have hit too close to home for us as well. Sometimes, that is literally the case as well.

Consider the 2012 Colorado movie theatre shooting, which took the life of 12 people including Jessica Ghawi. Ghawi was, just weeks earlier, visiting her Canadian boyfriend's family in Toronto, and found herself near gunfire at a downtown mall. Or the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which left 20 young children dead including Winnipeg’s Ana Marquez-Greene.

And now, the latest mass killing to mar the United States has a Canadian connection as well. One of six people killed during a rampage near the University of California campus in Santa Barbara had roots in Ontario.

Elliot Rodger, now deceased, is believed to have killed his two roommates and another man – including 19-year-old George Chen of Ottawa – before going on a shooting spree that killed three more and injured seven others late Friday evening.

Santa Barbara police say the suspect was found dead following a police chase. It was not clear whether he died from police gunfire or whether he took his own life.

[ Related: Killer's family frantically tried to intervene before deadly California rampage ]

After every instance of mass violence, Canada takes notice. We join in the discussion of gun control, debate whether or not the actions of an unstable loner could have been anticipated and stopped. It becomes harder for us to understand why it is allowed to continue.

According to GunPolicy.org, America has an average of 101 legal and illegal firearms per 100 people, the most common type being handguns. Canada, meantime, has about 24, most of which are hunting rifles and shotguns.

The disparity in shooting deaths is similarly stark. In 2011, Statistics Canada said 158 people were murdered with a firearm. In the U.S. the same year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said 11,101 people in the U.S. were intentionally shot dead.

The gun control debate has become commonplace, as has the inaction that tends to follow. Following the deaths of 20 school children in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, the public demanded a change to America’s gun culture. The president promised change. Yet no change has come.

Now, the father of one of those killed during the California rampage is speaking out. In a powerful public statement aired on CNN, Richard Martinez blamed politicians and the National Rifle Association for his 20-year-old son's death.

"You don't think it will happen to your child until it does," Martinez said about losing his son, Christopher, in the Friday shooting spree.

"Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris' right to live? When will this insanity stop?

"When will enough people say, 'Stop this madness. We don't have to live like this.' Too many have died. We should say to ourselves, not one more."

[ Related: Uncommon birth defect appears in three babies in homes on one road ]

Over the weekend, filmmaker Michael Moore, who 12 years ago made the documentary Bowling for Columbine after the Colorado mass school shooting, released a statement saying mass shootings no longer shock him.

"I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life," Moore said in a Facebook post.

"Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) 'interests.' The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol."

What does it mean when one of the country’s loudest anti-gun advocates throws up his hands and unofficially declares his mission a failure? Maybe nothing; maybe there is no change. There rarely is.

Those of us north of the border are left watching in silence, again, asking the same questions. How does it happen, and when will it stop? How many neighbours will we lose, and how many of our own sons and daughters will we lose along with them?

Want to know what news is brewing in Canada?
Follow
@MRCoutts on Twitter.