The spate of gun violence shows American exceptionalism at its worst

Uvalde is a small town in the picturesque Texas Hill Country, west of San Antonio, which used to be best known as the “honey capital of the world”. Today it is associated with senseless slaughter. On May 24th an 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, entered Robb Elementary School and carried out the largest school shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. At least 21 are dead, including 19 children.

The gunman reportedly bought two assault rifles on his 18th birthday and is believed to have used one, and high-capacity magazines, which allowed him to fire multiple bullets quickly. In a haunting parallel with Sandy Hook, in which that gunman killed his mother before perpetrating the school attack, Mr Ramos shot his grandmother, who is in critical condition. No motive has been revealed.