I intentionally waited and didn’t react immediately to the unbelievable happenings in Las Vegas. I wanted to calm down a little, listen to others, and give some thought to what I think makes most sense. Las Vegas broke the records for sure, but we are not that far removed from Orlando, which was the record for casualties of mass shootings at the time. I’ve listened, hoping to hear something different about our current gun laws, particularly from more conservative members of Congress.
Now, in fairness, the National Rifle Association (NRA) with some initial Congressional support has signaled a willingness to support a minor technical issue. But given the almost no value in addressing the problem, it comes across as much more of a political communications move than any real interest in supporting any gun legislation. This would be a logical time for at least some NRA-owned members of Congress to side with the public's support and interest. Based on Congress’ response to previous incidents, this is unlikely in the near future, but we can always hope.
So the question is, what will it take to bring elected officials to a consensus that there are several sane ideas on sensible gun laws that will in some instances make a difference? Most importantly, ideas not impacting the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution are available. I share a writing from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times to give you some policy ideas he put together that should at the very least be a part of actual across-the-aisle discussions. But that happening is a dream at the moment. As many have said, thoughts and prayers don’t do much, particularly when it is some folks’ way of copping out.
Will it take a team of crazies with access to endless automatic weapons, taking out huge numbers of innocent folks at several locations in one time period to finally get enough elected officials’ attention? We can’t blame the public. There is evidence of strong support for several policies that in no way infringe upon one's desire to hunt or to be armed to protect one's family, although, according to polling by Pew Research, supporters of these policies are far less likely to contact elected officials about their opinions. So what will it take for more citizens to speak out and more elected officials to realize they're in the wrong? How many more people are going to have to die to finally get action?
Now let’s be clear. A significant package of common sense gun changes are not necessarily going to stop all Las Vegas experiences, but objective folks with experience say that these changes would significantly reduce the slaughter and signal to the world that we are not, as a nation, crazy on the use of guns.
Now, in fairness, the National Rifle Association (NRA) with some initial Congressional support has signaled a willingness to support a minor technical issue. But given the almost no value in addressing the problem, it comes across as much more of a political communications move than any real interest in supporting any gun legislation. This would be a logical time for at least some NRA-owned members of Congress to side with the public's support and interest. Based on Congress’ response to previous incidents, this is unlikely in the near future, but we can always hope.
So the question is, what will it take to bring elected officials to a consensus that there are several sane ideas on sensible gun laws that will in some instances make a difference? Most importantly, ideas not impacting the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution are available. I share a writing from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times to give you some policy ideas he put together that should at the very least be a part of actual across-the-aisle discussions. But that happening is a dream at the moment. As many have said, thoughts and prayers don’t do much, particularly when it is some folks’ way of copping out.
Will it take a team of crazies with access to endless automatic weapons, taking out huge numbers of innocent folks at several locations in one time period to finally get enough elected officials’ attention? We can’t blame the public. There is evidence of strong support for several policies that in no way infringe upon one's desire to hunt or to be armed to protect one's family, although, according to polling by Pew Research, supporters of these policies are far less likely to contact elected officials about their opinions. So what will it take for more citizens to speak out and more elected officials to realize they're in the wrong? How many more people are going to have to die to finally get action?
Now let’s be clear. A significant package of common sense gun changes are not necessarily going to stop all Las Vegas experiences, but objective folks with experience say that these changes would significantly reduce the slaughter and signal to the world that we are not, as a nation, crazy on the use of guns.
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