Harry Truman said that “there is nothing new in the world except the history that you do not know.” With that in mind, I am reluctant to suggest that the 2020 election will be different from any other. Nonetheless, at least three things will make the contest both unusual and a challenge to analyze in an unemotional, nonpartisan way.

A heavily armed man recently killed 22 random Canadian citizens. Two of the guns were purchased in the US. While such violence is relatively rare in Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau responded with more than just “thoughts and prayers.”

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In America, the value of your life apparently depends on how you die. Some deaths matter more than others. Let’s try to be fact-based and rational. 

Just six days after the mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, a country where mass shootings are rare, passed a sweeping new ban on semi-automatic rifles and large ammunition magazines. Meanwhile, in the US, despite a mass shooting every nine months, we cannot even pass a moderate degree of gun control. Where is our self-respect? Where is our respect for life?