"Thoughts and prayers" are simply NOT enough
Good morning, my friends. Once again, we have experienced yet another tragedy in the United States that might have been prevented.
I say "might" because we may never know whether better controls on the sale of guns, especially assault-style weapons, would have prevented Devin Kelley entering a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday and opening fire on the congregation, killing 26 and injuring more.
Blaming individuals or organizations for this specific act of unspeakable violence isn't enough. The United States Air Force, of which Kelley was once a member, acknowledges that it erred in reporting his court martial for domestic violence to federal authorities. And he was shot and wounded by a person outside of the church as he exited following the shooting, an act President Donald Trump lauded as the action of a "very brave person."
The President also told the media that it was "too soon" to talk about gun regulations, preferring to instead focus on "mental health" as the driving force behind this horrific event. As I recall, he said roughly the same thing after the recent shooting at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. This isn't a great surprise, given the constituency to which many of his policies are aimed.
I noted with interest some online comments by pundits and others that wondered aloud what the President's reaction would be if the shooter's name were Arabic.
Since that event took place, the majority of our elected officials at the national level have once again asked for our "thoughts and prayers" as we remember the victims and their families.
That's not enough.
The United States leads the world, civilized or otherwise, in gun violence and gun deaths year after year after year, yet nothing happens. I wrote in this space after the events in Las Vegas that it appalled me that nothing happened after the Sandy Hook incident, which claimed the lives of mostly children at school. NOTHING happened in response.
We can all thank the National Rifle Association and its seemingly endless supply of campaign funding for members of Congress for this inaction. The NRA has so successfully cowed so many of the current Congressmen and Senators that opposition to widespread gun ownership would result not only in loss of NRA funding, but would also ensure that the NRA would back an opponent, either in the next primary or general election.
I'm sure you're wondering what I think should and could be done, aside from the undue influence of the NRA.
Well, for starters, let me say that I know people who hunt and use guns for their intended purposes. My own son owns two guns, which belonged to his biological father, and he keeps them in his home in a gun safe, as many responsible gun owners do. As is often stated, it's not those people who concern me.
But if I were in a position to make it happen, I'd like to see a complete ban on all semi-automatic weapons for individuals in this country. Trained military personnel and in some instances police units should be the only entities with access to weapons of this type. Home defense does not require a machine gun. Hunting for sport isn't a good match for high-round-capacity ammunition clips. Rural residents don't need bump stocks on their guns to ward off dangerous wild animals.
I also think that guns and items that can be used to modify them should not be sold online. It is simply too easy for those who shouldn't have guns to buy them there. And I am not referring specifically to larger gun dealers (where a quick check of a couple of sites shows semi-automatic weapons as the top "trending items") who in most cases operate within the law, but rather the individuals who are selling firearms online and otherwise without any background checking whatsoever.
And if President Trump is serious about this being a "mental health" issue, then perhaps he would put forward a plan for Congress to enact and to himself sign that would strengthen that component of the background checking process that seems so terribly flawed in the aftermath of events like this.
I don't express myself to political leaders online very often, but just after this occurred I tweeted at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (from my home state of Kentucky, no less), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. I simply said this:
@SenateMajLdr @SenSchumer @SpeakerRyan @NancyPelosi Leadership is needed to prevent more tragedy. Please work together toward that goal.
I hope they'll take that to heart.
I have four grandchildren, with a fifth arriving soon. I don't want them to be afraid to go to the grocery or to church or to school or ANYWHERE because maniacs with a cache of weapons may be lurking nearby.
You don't, either. Call or write to your Congressman or Senator. Ask them to do SOMETHING. And hope that everyone comes to their senses before the next unspeakable act happens to someone that you love.
I say "might" because we may never know whether better controls on the sale of guns, especially assault-style weapons, would have prevented Devin Kelley entering a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday and opening fire on the congregation, killing 26 and injuring more.
Blaming individuals or organizations for this specific act of unspeakable violence isn't enough. The United States Air Force, of which Kelley was once a member, acknowledges that it erred in reporting his court martial for domestic violence to federal authorities. And he was shot and wounded by a person outside of the church as he exited following the shooting, an act President Donald Trump lauded as the action of a "very brave person."
The President also told the media that it was "too soon" to talk about gun regulations, preferring to instead focus on "mental health" as the driving force behind this horrific event. As I recall, he said roughly the same thing after the recent shooting at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. This isn't a great surprise, given the constituency to which many of his policies are aimed.
I noted with interest some online comments by pundits and others that wondered aloud what the President's reaction would be if the shooter's name were Arabic.
Since that event took place, the majority of our elected officials at the national level have once again asked for our "thoughts and prayers" as we remember the victims and their families.
That's not enough.
The United States leads the world, civilized or otherwise, in gun violence and gun deaths year after year after year, yet nothing happens. I wrote in this space after the events in Las Vegas that it appalled me that nothing happened after the Sandy Hook incident, which claimed the lives of mostly children at school. NOTHING happened in response.
We can all thank the National Rifle Association and its seemingly endless supply of campaign funding for members of Congress for this inaction. The NRA has so successfully cowed so many of the current Congressmen and Senators that opposition to widespread gun ownership would result not only in loss of NRA funding, but would also ensure that the NRA would back an opponent, either in the next primary or general election.
I'm sure you're wondering what I think should and could be done, aside from the undue influence of the NRA.
Well, for starters, let me say that I know people who hunt and use guns for their intended purposes. My own son owns two guns, which belonged to his biological father, and he keeps them in his home in a gun safe, as many responsible gun owners do. As is often stated, it's not those people who concern me.
But if I were in a position to make it happen, I'd like to see a complete ban on all semi-automatic weapons for individuals in this country. Trained military personnel and in some instances police units should be the only entities with access to weapons of this type. Home defense does not require a machine gun. Hunting for sport isn't a good match for high-round-capacity ammunition clips. Rural residents don't need bump stocks on their guns to ward off dangerous wild animals.
I also think that guns and items that can be used to modify them should not be sold online. It is simply too easy for those who shouldn't have guns to buy them there. And I am not referring specifically to larger gun dealers (where a quick check of a couple of sites shows semi-automatic weapons as the top "trending items") who in most cases operate within the law, but rather the individuals who are selling firearms online and otherwise without any background checking whatsoever.
And if President Trump is serious about this being a "mental health" issue, then perhaps he would put forward a plan for Congress to enact and to himself sign that would strengthen that component of the background checking process that seems so terribly flawed in the aftermath of events like this.
I don't express myself to political leaders online very often, but just after this occurred I tweeted at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (from my home state of Kentucky, no less), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. I simply said this:
@SenateMajLdr @SenSchumer @SpeakerRyan @NancyPelosi Leadership is needed to prevent more tragedy. Please work together toward that goal.
I hope they'll take that to heart.
I have four grandchildren, with a fifth arriving soon. I don't want them to be afraid to go to the grocery or to church or to school or ANYWHERE because maniacs with a cache of weapons may be lurking nearby.
You don't, either. Call or write to your Congressman or Senator. Ask them to do SOMETHING. And hope that everyone comes to their senses before the next unspeakable act happens to someone that you love.
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