That was my colleague Adam Gopnik commenting the other day on America's attitude toward gun laws. Having read some of the comments on my own post about President Obama's failure to pursue more restrictions on the sale of firearms, I can only agree with Adam. When Bill Moyers, Keith Olbermann, Mayor Bloomberg, and Rupert Murdoch are all in favor of something—in this case, tougher gun laws—and there's still no chance of it being enacted, you can rest assured that forces other than reason and partisan politics are involved.

My only quibble with Adam is his use of the singular form: "a belief." Are firearms the only subject on which Americans are, let us say, a little batty? I'm not so sure. Having lived here for almost thirty years, and having been a U.S. citizen for the past five, I am greatly attached to this country and admire many aspects of it enormously. But the dogged persistence of certain American shibboleths has always struck me as somewhat curious. Read more

Sources

• John Cassidy in The New Yorker
• Image: HaveeruOnline

John Cassidy has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1995.