By: Korey Boehm
Like many issues that make their way to Capitol Hill, the matter of gun control has found itself recently stagnated by the efforts of its opponents. Irritated by the lack of progress on the part of Congress, President Obama hosted the families of gun violence victims at the White House on Thursday, and made a powerful appeal to lawmakers to institute his gun control initiatives.
In January, the president announced his groundbreaking plan to limit gun violence through a widespread range of legislation and executive action. At the heart of this plan lie four major proposals: universal background checks for all gun buyers (gun buyers wanting to avoid background checks can, for instance, purchase weapons from a private seller at a gun show), a crackdown on gun trafficking, a ban on military-style assault weapons, and a ban on ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets. Any proposition of this magnitude is bound to face its fair share of criticism, and considering this proposal is the most ambitious gun control legislation in decades, Obama is not spared by an exception.
Republicans have been neither timid nor infrequent in deserved criticisms of President Obama. From the staggering escalation of the national debt to the debacle that was the Benghazi incident, the presidency of the incumbent has been far from perfect in the eyes of conservatives. However, in the spirit of sincere patriotism, we must be able to judge each action without the bias of previous perceived shortcomings. For this reason, President Obama’s recent stance on gun control deserves admiration and respect, as hard as it may be to bestow them upon an administration so entrenched in conservative disappointment.
There is no arguing that gun violence has reached epidemic standards in this country. The ghastly mass murder at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20 and the unimaginable scene that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 are only the latest in an outbreak of such gun violence over the last three decades. Since 1982, there have been 62 mass shootings nationwide, 25 of these having taken place since 2006, with seven occurring in 2012. The problem has obviously gotten worse and there is no reason to believe that we will see any signs of improvement unless immediate and decisive action is taken.
The most common criticism of Obama’s plan centers on a legitimate concern over the ability of these initiatives to substantially reduce gun violence. Critics can certainly argue the old adage, “criminals will be criminals.” But is that truly justification for not even attempting to solve the problem? As Obama himself recently explained, “there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely… but if there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there is even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.”
Most conservatives also decry the president’s proposal in defense of their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Even ardent supporters of the Constitution must acknowledge that as society evolves, so must our government. At the time of the enactment of the Bill of Rights, the most powerful weapon available to citizens was a one-round-per-minute musket, not the hundreds-of-rounds-per-minute weapons currently available. Every citizen should undoubtedly have the right to bear arms to protect themselves, but not at the cost of allowing unstable or merciless individuals to attain high-octane artillery. There are more than enough weapons available legally to adequately protect oneself (shotguns, pistols, and semi-automatic hunting rifles come to mind) so banning the most powerful of them is a necessary sacrifice if this nation truly aims to curb gun violence.
Coincidentally, Obama delivered his speech on the same day it was revealed that recently-disclosed search warrants in the Newtown case show that authorities seized more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, an unlocked gun safe, and samurai swords inside gunman Adam Lanza’s home. Some of the other items obtained included paper targets, gun manuals, earplugs, holsters, almost 40 types of ammunition, nine types of magazines, a bayonet, knives with blades that measure as long as 1 foot, and Samurai swords with blades as long as 2 feet 4 inches.
In the aforementioned case of the Aurora movie theater shootings, mere months before the Newtown tragedy, James Holmes killed 12 innocent civilians and left another 58 injured. The psychiatrist who treated Holmes stated her worries about his behavior to a University of Colorado police officer several weeks prior to the massacre. Despite these warnings, Holmes was able to legally purchase two powerful pistols, a shotgun, and a semi-automatic rifle as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, two magazine holders, and a knife. The mere fact that two people as clearly unstable as Lanza and Holmes, both of whom were previously diagnosed with mental instability, were able to compile such a massive collection of artillery should be sufficient evidence that the current system is in desperate need of modification.
Because of these two instances, along with the numerous others that have taken place recently, it is no coincidence that the top priority of Obama’s proposal is more detailed background checks. “Right now, 90 percent of Americans — 90 percent — support background checks,” Obama said. “How often do 90 percent of Americans agree on anything? It never happens.” The fact that so many people are in support of this particular aspect of the proposal is reason enough for my fellow Republicans to more closely examine and credit the President’s ideas.
It is not as if Obama has been pushing gun control legislation for some time and therefore could be viewed as using the Sandy Hook tragedy for his own political gain. Instead, the president has tried to issue a timely response to an important matter of citizen security, something that the entire federal government might hope to learn from.
Partisans must take greater pride in calling themselves “Americans” than in calling themselves “Republicans,” and put country before party. Fellow Republicans must properly recognize the Obama administration for drafting an appropriate response to the outbreak of gun violence in the United States.
The Newtown tragedy took place about 100 days ago, and the nation’s history suggests that it is only a matter of time until the next massacre takes place. As Obama declared today, “That anguish is still fresh in Newtown; shame on us if we’ve forgotten.”
