Taking the muzzle off the gun debate Aaron Alexis, who the FBI believe to be responsible for the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard in the Southeast area of Washington, DC, is shown in this Fort Worth Police Department handout photo released on September 16, 2013. Reuters When a mass shooting would happen in the United States, it used to be a kind of unspoken rule that you do not speak about guns. Some people would use the news of a gun massacre to discuss the country’s polarizing gun culture. Then critics would respond by accusing those people of exploiting a tragedy for political gain, to promote a political agenda (specifically: stricter gun control laws). Critics argued that there should be a moratorium in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting, when no one would discuss politics but only mourn the victims. Hence the gag rule. All that seemed to change on Monday, when suspect Aaron Alexis opened fire on a military facility in Washington, D.C., killing a dozen people and wounding eight others, at least. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a top Democrat from California, issued a statement on gun regulations the same day. “When will enough be enough?,” Feinstein said. “Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life.” She also said the killings at Navy Yard just add “to the litany of massacres that occur when a deranged person or grievance killer is able to obtain multiple weapons.” The Second Amendment, which guarantees gun ownership rights, usually pits Republicans against Democrats. But David Frum, a former speechwriter for Republican President George W. Bush, responded to the Monday massacre in a decidedly un-conservative manner. He sent a series of tweets to his nearly 94,000 followers describing rules to follow in the wake of a shooting spree. “Rule 1: It is ‘ghoulish’ to suggest in any way that the easy availability of guns might in any way enable gun slaughter,” Frum wrote on Twitter. In past tragedies, this rule might have been followed. But in this case, Frum is being very sarcastic to point out how the gun lobby has scared people into believing it is insensitive of them to debate gun control. And perhaps some people do have reason to be scared. Just this month, two state senators in Colorado were removed from public office because they supported tightening gun laws. The legislation requires tougher background checks and limited ammunition for gun buyers. Recalls of politicians are extremely rare, but they happened in Colorado because of the intense efforts of gun owners. They happened in Colorado, even though the state has gone through two of the country’s most high-profile mass shootings: one at Columbine High School in 1999, the other at an Aurora movie theatre in 2012. There have been other such shootings in recent years, such as the one killing 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, or another nearly killing then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona in 2011. The incidents highlight the United States’s unique status among advanced nations for its gun violence. The country has five percent of the world population and 50 percent of the world’s guns. In a follow-up Twitter post, Frum positioned the United States in this global context. “Rule 5: Gun ownership is essential to freedom, as in Serbia & Guatemala. Gun restrictions lead to tyranny, as in Australia & Canada,” he wrote. Frum was referring to gun owners’ belief that they must protect themselves with firearms, even though other countries do fine without their citizens possessing guns. Mass shootings don’t seem to deter gun owners, or the powerful National Rifle Association that is supposed to represent them. Instead, they focus on other potential causes -- such as violent video games and mental health problems -- that could motivate gunmen like Aaron Alexis. Gun owners don’t want to talk about guns causing gun violence, and they don’t want others talking about this either. But on Monday, the conversation started again anyway. ANNIE HOANG, Tuoitrenews