With the National Rifle Association and President Obama at the toll of the first bell in what appears to be a 12-round slugfest, one has to wonder what exactly the right direction should this country should be taking in response to the recent school shootings.
After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, NRA Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, let out the quote heard round the world: “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.”
From the moment the word “gun” finished rolling off of his silver tongue, this country was up in arms. Wednesday, Jan. 16, the president made his response loud and clear when he made a speech calling for universal background checks to anyone who wishes to purchase a gun, a ban on military grade assault weapons, 10 round maximum on magazines and for police to get tougher on people who buy guns with the intent of selling them to criminals and anyone involved in these acts.
The NRA’s response was a commercial calling the president “just another elitist hypocrite,” stating that it was hypocritical for the president to want armed guards with his children at school, but not wanting to have them there for everyone else. First of all, I see their point. However, that does not even resemble how you get things done in any circumstance, let alone one this crucial. The NRA has done everything they can to drag the president through the mud and to turn the American public against him, which obviously has not been hard given how people wanted their state to secede following his re-election.
The problem with both of these solutions is that they are not complete, and I think both parties know that. However, it appears neither is particularly willing to cooperate with the other. To start with, measures have to be taken to increase school security, we all know that. Many schools already have metal detectors and require access cards to get in the building, which is a great idea, but the NRA hit the nail on the head when they called for every school to have an armed officer present. However, at the same time we can’t turn our schools into miniature prisons.
This does not mean that the president’s aforementioned ideas on gun control are wrong. In fact, I believe they are significantly better than the NRA’s proposal. There is no reason anyone should be able to purchase guns, of any kind, without going through an in-depth background and psychological test. Also, there is also no reason that civilians should have access to military grade weapons. Military grade weapons are designed to do one thing, kill, that’s why they are used in the military to begin with. Then you get to the 10 round maximum on magazines. We all understand how quick it is to change a magazine, but that split second could make a difference in 26 lives.
For those of you who have read the rest of all of this without wading up the paper and throwing it away, I thank you. For those of you who have screamed, and are likely still screaming, about the Second Amendment I would like to make something perfectly clear. When the second amendment was written we weren’t exactly running around firing musket balls at the same pace some are firing off AR-15s. The Constitution has been amended a grand total of 27 times, proving that it has not, and will never be perfect like we all want. Don’t let your own political affiliations and your own beliefs inflate your ego so much that you spend more time downing someone else’s ideology than you do trying to help solve the problem at hand.
