Highland Park shooting: What could be more symbolic of the US than 4 July celebrations ending in a mass shooting?

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. That’s hard to live with.” As the dad says, the fact that firearms are now the leading cause of death in America for children is an outrage; it proves, in his words, that: “Something is very wrong with America.” In May, 19 children and two teachers were gunned down at a primary school in Uvalde; now – in this latest assault, at the time of writing – we hear of half a dozen dead and at least 30 wounded at a day that was meant be about celebration. On Twitter, one wry, dark sentiment stuck with me, inspiring the headline to this piece: “Nothing says America like a mass shooting on 4th of July” – and she’s right. President Biden has spoken out, again, branding the Highland Park tragedy another example of “senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community”. To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here A friend of mine wrote a poem entitled “Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild” that ends with these powerful lines: Humans in the wild, gathered and feeling good, previously an exhilaration, now: a target.