'The Onion' Weighs In On UCSB Killing Spree With Haunting Headline

'The Onion' Weighs In On UCSB Killing Spree With Haunting Headline
LOS ANGELES , CA - MAY 26: Students of UCSB and UCLA mourn at a candlelight vigil at UCLA for the victims of a killing rampage over the weekend near UCSB on May 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. According to reports, 22 year old Elliot Rodger, son of assistant director of the Hunger Games, Peter Rodger, began his mass killing near the University of California, Santa Barbara by stabbing three people to death in an apartment. He then went on to shooting and running down people while driving his BMW until crashing with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Officers found three legally-purchased guns registered to him inside the vehicle. Prior to the murders, Rodger posted YouTube videos declaring his intention to annihilate the girls who rejected him sexually and others in retaliation for his remaining a virgin at age 22. Seven people died, including Rodger, and seven others were wounded. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES , CA - MAY 26: Students of UCSB and UCLA mourn at a candlelight vigil at UCLA for the victims of a killing rampage over the weekend near UCSB on May 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. According to reports, 22 year old Elliot Rodger, son of assistant director of the Hunger Games, Peter Rodger, began his mass killing near the University of California, Santa Barbara by stabbing three people to death in an apartment. He then went on to shooting and running down people while driving his BMW until crashing with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Officers found three legally-purchased guns registered to him inside the vehicle. Prior to the murders, Rodger posted YouTube videos declaring his intention to annihilate the girls who rejected him sexually and others in retaliation for his remaining a virgin at age 22. Seven people died, including Rodger, and seven others were wounded. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

In the wake of the killing spree in Isla Vista, California that left 7 dead and 13 wounded, the debate about what, if anything, should be done about America's addiction to guns rages on. Many weighed in on social media, including Patton Oswalt, whose expression of horror was echoed by thousands.

As the days go on, more and more comedians and satirists will begin taking cracks at this particularly robust cultural knot, something Jim Norton has said it is the job of comedians to do. But since almost every late night show is on hiatus this week, the Jon Stewarts and Stephen Colberts have yet to work their knuckles into it.

Enter The Onion, with yet another heartbreakingly succinct way of summing things up.

the onion ucsb shooting

It's familiar territory for the satirical newspaper, which has hammered at the U.S.'s inability to curb gun violence for years. Headlines such as, "Nation Celebrates Full Week Without Deadly Mass Shooting (UPDATE: Never Mind)" and "Desperate Nation Tries Getting On Board With Mass Shootings" are just a few of this latest piece's grim predecessors.

While "The Onion" never mentions any particular group by name, the story takes on the bizarre concept that one of the most powerful nations on earth is somehow powerless to curb gun violence.

"At press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past five years were referring to themselves and their situation as 'helpless.'"

Read the full story and let us know what you think of "The Onion's" take on the tragedy.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story described last week's killing spree in Isla Vista, Calif. as a mass shooting. The suspect, Elliot Rodger, reportedly stabbed three men to death, gunned down two young women outside a sorority and then shot and killed another man.

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