US may be broken beyond repair amid multiple mass shootings: NYT

NEW YORK - Victims of the increasingly frequent mass shootings are collateral damage in a cold civil war in the United States, though some Democrats refuse to acknowledge it, let alone fight it, reported The New York Times on Friday.

In this country, access to weapons is, for the right, a matter of existential importance. Guns are a guarantor against government overreach, and government overreach includes attempts to regulate guns, said the report by columnist Michelle Goldberg.

It will be impossible to do anything about guns in the United States, at least at a national level, as long as Democrats depend on the cooperation of Republicans, who have no intention of letting Democrats pass even modest measures like strengthened background checks, according to the Opinion article.

"The horrifying irony, the hideous ratchet, is that the more America is besieged by senseless violence, the more the paramilitary wing of the American right is strengthened. Gun sales tend to rise after mass shootings," said the article.

"Guns are now the leading cause of death for American children. Many conservatives consider this a price worth paying for their version of freedom. Our institutions give these conservatives disproportionate power whether or not they win elections," it said.

For so among liberals, there's an overwhelming feeling of despair, said the article, noting that "America is too sick, too broken. It is perhaps beyond repair."