Last week we all experienced a tremendous tragedy when a gunman took the lives of so many people in a gun attack at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut. I was enraged when I heard the news, but could not write a blog on the topic at the time. That has changed.
On the day of the incident, White House spokesman Jay Carney said “today is not the day to discuss gun control.”
That is pure bunk. Friday would have been a perfect day for the President to do more than offer condolences. He could (and should) have called for immediate legislation to regulate guns and the make sanctions against gun-produced crimes extremely severe.
I’ve heard all the arguments against gun control: “If guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns;” “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” These platitudes make nice sound bytes for the NRA, but they don’t sound so convincing when juxtaposed against a photograph of a six-year-old girl laying dead in a pool of her own blood.
Why our President is reluctant to take on the NRA is beyond me. He isn’t running for office again, and doesn’t need their support. If the issue is the Second Amendment, maybe he should read it again – in its entirety. “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.” Note the “well regulated militia part.” If you really want to shoot weapons at people, join the armed services and hope for war. Don’t spray classrooms full of bullets, killing many young people, destroying families, and bringing sadness to the entire country.
Yes, I”m aware that In 2008, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision concerning the Second Amendment. In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia, and to use that firearm arm for traditionally lawful purposes. This ruling flies in the face of the Second Amendment as written, but what do I know – I only have a PhD and am able to read without moving my lips. Maybe an attorney can explain this too me. I’m sure the Supremes would argue that the mass murder of children was not a “traditionally lawful purpose,” and argue that their ruling was just (even though it conflicts with the very clear language of the second amendment.)
In the spirit of full disclosure, I used to shoot on a regular basis (and even have some marksmanship medals in a box somewhere). But my rules were clear – I either shot at paper targets or at dinner. I am not against game hunting – only against the ease with which your typical nutcake can get weapons and use them against innocents.
So, what would I do if I could?
First, I would make any fire-arm-related shooting of a person (by non-police or militia) a federal offense with a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Then, I would track down the place or manufacturer from whom the gun was purchased and impose a mandatory fine of one-million dollars per shooting event to be paid to the families of those who were maimed or killed as a result. Say the perpetrator had a mental breakdown, fine – then the incarceration starts in a mental hospital and moves to a prison later, with no chance of parole.
My guess is that, if this was the law of the land, we would see firearm-based attacks drop by a tremendous amount.
If it kept even one child alive, it would be worth it. Children don’t belong in caskets, and our President’s failure to speak out on this issue makes me sick. We have a right to expect more from him.
I strongly agree with all you have said, and although I am generally a strong supporter of Pres. Obama, I too, am mystified by his lack of action on gun control. But another dire issue remains – the silence about mental illness that is still pervasive in this country. I can tell you, firsthand, that as a Special Ed. teacher, I am disappointed to experience that after 30+ years in this profession, attitudes towards “sped” by teachers, students, administrators and parents haven’t changed significantly. There is still bullying and teasing of these students, and NCLB has made sped kids the target of accusations that they lower their classes’ and schools’ test scores. And I’ve only worked with kids who have learning disabilities, ADHD and mild Aspergers! The stigma against children and adults with mental illnesses is overwhelming and shameful. It affects the ability to get insurance (especially if one has a record of treatment!), to receive adequate treatment covered by insurance, be employed, receive support from one’s various communities. I wonder how many families are living in terrified silence with a disturbed child like Adam Lanza, fearful of what the neighbors, school, relatives will think? Adam Lanza carried out his hideous plan with legal guns, purchased by his mother, whom he killed first. His bizarre, anti-social behavior was tolerated and swept under the rug for years, apparently with no record of intervention. I’m sad to say that I’ve taught students, just a handful of the hundreds I’ve worked with over the years, of whom us teachers would say, “I can picture him going up on a rooftop with a rifle and letting loose!” Awareness needs to be raised, and humane but effective interventions are desperately needed.
It’s an interesting, biased take on special education and mental illness you present here. I am not disagreeing, just pointing at the fact that is part of a bigger problem. I would actually say that instead of just looking at the mental illness as a separate event from the rest of life, we need to be holistic and inclusive: I agree that it is hard to get insurance after any event that was negative to your health. Heck, president Obama actually made enormous progress in that sense. But we need to look at problems in a broader way: lobbies and a crooked justice system are what makes America sick. Lobbies work in their own interest, and judges follow suit: the supreme court has always thrown oil on the fire, instead of trying to look at problems logically. We need better regulations, not set by precedents that are outdated, or pronounced by a judge who was biased. We need firmer laws, and people to understand that freedom should not come at other people’s expense.
There is no question that mental health issues also need to be addressed. It just makes me sad that it was so easy for a mother to buy assault weapons, knowing she had a disturbed child. Tragically, we can’t ask her why she felt these guns were needed in her home.
The USA needs to do more than discuss gun control – we need to make it law. My friends in deer hunting PA say hunters should have guns, my friends in crime-ridden cities say private citizens should have handguns, politicians who want the popular vote say it is a Constitutional right. Plain and simple, guns kill. When one has looked into the eyes of a girl whose best friend standing next to her was shot in a random drive by shooting, there is no leeway for allowing guns. When one’s son takes his own life with his father’s gun, there is no leeway for allowing guns. And certainly after 20 precious children have been killed with a semi-automatic gun, there is no leeway for allowing guns.
Mr. President – get rid of the guns!