Photograph Source: Tech. Sgt. Andrew Enriquez – Public Domain

United States President Donald Trump has, not unexpectedly, overreacted to the shooting of two members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. He is ‘permanently pausing’ all migration from developing nations, ending all government benefits to non-citizens, and will review all the asylum cases that were approved under the administration of former President Joe Biden. There will also be a “full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”

Now, it is reasonable to grieve the killing of anyone who was basically minding their own business – although it could be argued that National Guard members don’t necessarily fall into that category – and to take steps to prevent such deaths from occurring in the future. And while the steps Trump is taking can reasonably be argued to have no such intention or efficacy, one can tell that the Great Orange One is enraged at this event.

One visiting from another planet might mistakenly believe that this shooting was a rare occurrence, something that brings fear into the hearts of all U.S. citizens, because it is an unknown rarity. However, such is not the case. Shootings are a daily occurrence in the U.S., so common that few of them are even reported on the news.

While Trump is busy drumming up more nationalist rhetoric, let us look for a moment at a victim population that doesn’t wear a uniform: school children. And let us further see how Trump reacts to school shootings.

First, a very inconvenient fact: as of November 25 of this year, there have been 70 school shootings in the U.S. These shootings have resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, with more than 100 injured, some of them seriously.

In October of 2024, Trump was asked a simple question: How would he explain his gun control policy to the parents of children who were murdered in their classrooms? “Trump replied that........

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