While Republicans are walking around on a crutch, Democrats are running marathons. When it comes to national issues–immigration, guns, taxes, spending–the Democrats are winning public support by a landslide. And while the Obama administration stands its ground on implementing more stringent gun control, the underlying issue remains an elephant in the room: mental illness.
Columbine, Virginia Tech, the recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary all had similar motives: the attacks were carried out by people suffering from severe mental illness. No sane person should believe one’s Second Amendment right to own a gun leads people to walk into an elementary school with an AR-15 and let loose. No sane person should reasonably believe, well, a sane person could carry out such heinous and despicable acts.
Even the term “assault” rifle is a misleading representation of the weapon, and ironically a reversal of “political correctness.” Yet the ultimate debate remains: the battle by some Democratic Senators to ban assault weapons and place limits on large-size magazines, and Republicans fighting back by arguing the ban would infringe on law-abiding citizens’ right to own a firearm.
We have tried prohibiting a multi-billion dollar industry from operating, and we all know how well Prohibition worked. Mexico, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, also is one of the most violent, run by drug cartels and filled with corruption.
Yesterday’s pictures showing President Obama skeet shooting should be enough evidence to point out that one’s right to own a firearm outweighs strict gun control for the very, very small proportion of the population that abuses this right.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 10,228 people died in drunk driving crashes in 2010, accounting for 31 percent of traffic-related deaths. We don’t see the GOP attempting to ban alcohol, so why should guns be treated any differently?
Tragedies occur every day. And tragedies are often obdurate, and impossible to prevent from happening or change in outcome. Banning high-capacity magazines and semiautomatic weapons only exasperates the problem, and prevention is miniscule, while Amendment rights’ violations are vast.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s plan to push some of the strictest gun-licensing, ban assault weapons, and restrict visitor access to schools is a step in the wrong direction. Sure there is a need for tighter background checks and gun safety courses, as proper training should be required before owning a gun, but his plan also does little to address the problem of mental illness.
The question should be why people of mental illness with violent tendencies are not receiving more help. Why Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter who went on a killing spree in 2007, was not a cause for concern after his bizarre behavior in class and often graphic, violent, and gruesome stories he wrote for an English class?
If there is a need to emphasize prevention, it begins with addressing mental illness. If there is a need to emphasize safety, place at least one armed police officer at every school. Paranoia and irrational thinking is one thing. Understanding a person’s Amendment rights and the elephant in the room is another.
Is the elephant that hard to find?