In Philly, 3 gun deaths already in 2013

It didn't take long for Philadelphia's 2013 gun-related death toll to kick in.

The first fatal shooting victim of the year was a 17-year-old boy who was gunned down at around 12:30 am on New Year's Day.

Then, about two hours later, a man was fatally shot.

At around 3:00 am, three people were shot, and one of them died.

Yes, right here in the so-called City of Brotherly Love.

And, sadly, I'm sure it's happening elsewhere in the U.S.

Unfortunately, even in the wake of the recent Connecticut school shootings, I doubt that anything will change. The gun lobby is just too powerful, and our elected representatives are just too weak.

The public discourse has already shifted to the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling. The next mass shooting will resurrect the subject, but probably only temporarily, as usual. Lather, rinse, repeat.