Critic’s Notebook: We cannot accept mass shootings as the new normal

SWAT officers search for suspects in the San Bernardino mass shooting in the sort of image that is becoming commonplace on our televisions. San Bernardino and why we've become too comfortably numb about mass shootings “Just another day in the United States of America, another day of gunfire, panic and fear.” That’s how the BBC chose to open its coverage of Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino. The BBC opener was passed around, along with stories and charts about this year’s extraordinary number of mass shootings, answered by the equally predictable responses: “Gun control won’t cure insanity” or “If the victims had guns, they wouldn’t have been victims.” Prayers were offered by many, and rejected by others as, at worse hypocrisy, at best an excuse to preserve the status quo. Whether the perpetrators of the San Bernardino shootings are foreign or domestic terrorists, disgruntled employees or a simply a band of killers shouldn’t distract us from the inescapable, unacceptable trend of gun violence. mary.mcnamara@latimes.com Twitter: @marymacTV ---------------------- FOR THE RECORD: 7:50 a.m. A previous version of this story referred to the invention of “automatic weapons.” The reference has been changed to “semiautomatic weapons.” ---------------------- MORE ON THE SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING How the massacre in San Bernardino set off a surreal day for hundreds Shooting suspect traveled to Saudi Arabia, was married, appeared to be living ‘American Dream,’ co-workers say Editorial Cartoon: San Bernardino is the latest site for America’s unending gunfight