Need to cure America's obsession with guns

The horrific mass shooting in Virginia will doubtless provoke a debate on America's gun culture. Sadly, however, nothing will change. America's love affair with personal weaponry is deeply ingrained and sponsored by powerful lobbies. Its democracy is paralysed by apathy, vested interests, and a shallowness that neuters any sense of ‘can-do'.

It is unlikely, therefore, that American politicians will have the courage to take leadership on this issue. They are more likely to offer tearful sympathies and vague platitudes. There can be no quick fix, it is true. But leaders in those states with more acute strains of the gun mania could make a start by stating the obvious: that personal weaponry has no place in a modern, civilised democracy. Curing the obsession with guns will take time; but we all know that society is always in flux, and where there's a will, bold changes are possible. A fair, open, responsive democracy is the best way to effect such changes.

In a way, each gun massacre is a test of American democracy. A test it repeatedly flunks.

Ciarán Mac Aonghusa, Churchtown, Dublin 14