Gun crazy - Shoot out at the GOP corral?

AMERICA is like a good friend you really can’t fathom, one you really like but don’t fully know — a mixture of ally and real mystery.

The unexpected march of Donald Trump toward the Republican nomination to contest the White House and Democratic favourite Hilary Clinton’s inability to close down her opponent Bernie Sanders, who in recent days won primaries in Alaska and Washington, all make for an enthralling spectator sport but poor enough politics.

That air of the other, a hint that the process is not grounded in what we regard as normality is highlighted by an online petition demanding that people be allowed carry guns at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. Why? In case of an IS attack on Trump? In case sane Republicans try to nominate a candidate they can be proud of? More than 24,000 people have signed the petition so it can hardly be called a fringe movement. Is it any wonder president Barack Obama struggled to make any real impact on the gun culture that stains a country great in so many ways?