There have been 18 shooting incidents on school campuses this year. The mass slaughter in Las Vegas suggested that there would soon be a bipartisan bill in Congress at least banning those $99 bumpstocks that, when added to an assault rifle, can significantly increase its rate of fire. Nothing happened. At least 17 people (mostly students) were shot to death (with many injuries as well) at a Parkland, Florida high school on Valentine’s Day, by Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old with a legally-purchased AR-15 assault rifle, who had been expelled earlier from that same school. A boy with a bad disciplinary history and a litany of angry social media postings. By pulling the fire alarm lever, he managed to get the students to march out of class to make easier targets. It was the greatest school massacre in the United States since the 26 deaths in Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012.
The NRA wants more guns on campus as a preventative measure. That “good guy with a gun” mantra, although no one seems to be able to predict when that “good guy” becomes a “bad guy,” and “bad guys” can get guns almost as easily as good guys. Anyone in the US who wants an assault rifle with an oversized magazine – ANYONE – can get one. If you live in a state with reasonable gun control laws, and there aren’t many, you merely have to drive to a state where they are lax, one where background checks are not required at private gun shows. Not to mention that there are so many illegal places to pick one up if you are too lazy to drive.
And you know that getting federal gun control legislation cannot happen with a Republican Congress and President… and might not happen even if the Democrats were in power. The saddest part of our government’s reaction to this St. Valentine’s Day massacre is Donald Trump’s statement that the problem is not guns but our need to “tackle the difficult issue of mental illness.” Hey Donald, if assault weapons weren’t even available…
The National Rifle Association, originally created to teach gun safety, today operates a very effective and well-funded gun industry lobby that attacks virtually all efforts – state, local and federal – to impose any restrictions on gun sales/ownership. Its post-1977 efforts towards this goal made it perhaps the most effective and powerful lobby in the nation, slowly evolving social pressure that even got the United States Supreme Court to ignore the plain meaning of the Second Amendment. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
It was a constitutional protection aimed at letting citizen soldiers keep their single shot awkward muskets at home, on the ready should their nation need them, even during periods when there was no war. Picture our Founding Fathers, in 1789, considering this amendment. There was absolutely no vision of a multi-shot, self-chambering gun, much less a large magazine automatic or semi-automatic rifle… just the notion of not letting the government take the muskets away from its citizen soldiers in times of peace. But the Supreme Court pretty much ignored that “Militia” language from their interpretation, leading to the gun carnage that defines the United States today… the most violent country on earth not engaged in an active military conflict.
The sad thing is how many people die from gun homicides, although NRA-sponsored legislation bans any agency in the federal government from keeping accurate statistics. An automatic or semi-automatic weapon – unlike a knife, poison, acid, blunt instrument, etc. – is capable of killing a dozen or more people in the space of a minute or two… even faster than even the best-prepared authorities can react. The saddest part of our government’s react to this St. Valentine’s Day massacre is Donald Trump’s statement that the problem is not guns but our need to “tackle the difficult issue of mental illness.”
I know that conservatives with rural values are not going to change anything meaningful in the gun control arena. We still value guns over the lives of our children. But ask yourself what our Founding Fathers would think of this clearly-distorted interpretation of their sacred words. Assault weapons have no place in our society. Stringent gun control makes more sense today than ever before. The NRA and those who support its blanket anti-gun control policies should be ashamed, deeply ashamed… but instead they are self-righteous and angry at the thought that someone might impose sensible limits on deadly military-like weapons.
I’m Peter Dekom, and I feel terrible for the families who lost children on this most recent Valentine’s Day Massacre, a most preventable tragedy.
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5 comments:
Americans won’t give up their guns, not their high powered military assault rifles nor their pocket pistols. This may not be what America’s founders intended, but originalism is neither a foundation of American Progressive thought.
Guns should be regulated better.
The Australian solution is unworkable in the USA. The gun clubs in Australia are untenable restrictions to Americans’ sense of self reliance. I don’t think many people who own military style rifles responsibly for recreational and collector purposes are ready to willingly give them up, even for money. Not only have they invested money but they also invested time. Besides many collected high powered military guns even when it was illegal. It is ingrained in a culture.
However ultimately required a more drastic change may be, such as confiscating assault rifles, it is political suicide in today’s highly polarized society. Don’t let the great be the enemy of the good. Moving forward on gun control must start somewhere.
Stronger checks for mental health and criminal history, and closing the gun show loophole are some possible first steps.
Sadly, more security is also needed at schools and better mental health care. Take domestic violence seriously because the mass murderers are most often domestic abusers as well. Report people who shoot animals and make threats and don’t be afraid to speak up. A grandmother reported her own grandson in Washington and saved many! Perhaps the Florida terrorist should have been involuntarily committed a long time ago.
These are all issues. No need to take sides. We must come together.
Emily Graham
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/Gun-shop-owners-distraught-over-selling-rifle-to-maniac-who-killed-17-at-school_165549567
“ Stuart Kaplan, an attorney representing the corporate entity, Sunrise Tactical Supply, said shop owners ensured that Cruz filled out a firearms transactions record form, called an ATF Form 4473, that is issued by the Department of Justice. He included a copy of his driver’s license, his name, address, date of birth, sex, height, weight, and answered "no" to questions about whether he had been adjudicated for mental illness or whether he had been institutionalized for mental health illness, Kaplan said.
"What I understand is that was answered appropriately," said Kaplan, who is a lawyer with Palm Beach Gardens-based Kaplan and Parker. "I think the bigger question is: We know that he suffered from some sort of mental health illness. I guess we need to decide or find out whether or not he was being treated ... and I think that loophole is whether or not a mental health professional who is treating an individual should have some sort of reporting requirement or is there some sort of database that would collect this information so that in an event that a particular person would go to purchase a weapon, we could at least screen them?" “
Emily Graham
If we cannot ban assault weapons, there will be many, many more mass killings... so we must. We cannot assume that this is not possible. The choice is simple: The Rights to Own Assault Weapons vs A lot of dead people including our children. Pick one; they are mutually exclusive.
According to USA Today, the AR-15 is the weapon of choice for many mass murderers. In fact, manufacturers made approximately 3.7 million of them in 2015 alone. Think about it. And the only purpose for such weapons is to kill as many people in as short a time as possible. This powerful gun can even shoot through most interior walls. Why is it remotely legal?
NY Times 2/16/18: "A prominent Republican political donor demanded on Saturday that the party pass legislation to restrict access to guns, and vowed not to contribute to any candidates or electioneering groups that did not support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians.
Al Hoffman Jr., a Florida-based real estate developer who was a leading fund-raiser for George W. Bush’s campaigns, said he would seek to marshal support among other Republican political donors for a renewed assault weapons ban.
“'For how many years now have we been doing this — having these experiences of terrorism, mass killings — and how many years has it been that nothing’s been done?' Mr. Hoffman said in an interview. 'It’s the end of the road for me.'"
A lone Republican?
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