In life there is a saying, "actions speak louder than words."
However, why is it that for the Legislative Branch of our government inaction is clobbering words into the ground? By words, I mean campaign promises. No elected congressional official made it into office by promising to do nothing, and yet the 113th Congress will go down in history as the second least productive Congress. The 114th Congress (our current one), has been slightly more productive, but seems to be at a standstill when it comes to the issues that most United States citizens want them to address.
Gun legislation, for instance, is on everyone's minds after the tragic shooting that happened on June 12 in Pulse, an Orlando gay nightclub. Forty-nine people died and 53 were wounded, by a singular man holding a semi-automatic rifle. This man, whose name I will not mention, was interviewed by the FBI, not once but twice, as a possible societal threat. He was a known ISIS supporter. However, he could legally purchase a gun and the government was powerless to stop him.
The irony is that on June 1, approximately 11 days prior to the night club shooting, President Obama addressed a question about the Second Amendment and gun legislation at a PBS NewsHour Town Hall.
The question was posed by one Doug Rhude, a gun shop owner. Rhude's question:
"....why then do you and Hillary want to control and restrict and limit gun manufacturers, gun owners and responsible use of guns and ammunition to the rest of us, the good guys, instead of holding the bad guys accountable for their actions?"
President Obama's response was:
"...at no point have I ever, ever proposed confiscating guns from responsible gun owners. So it’s just not true.What I have said is precisely what you suggested, which is, why don’t we treat this like every other thing that we use? I just came from a meeting today in the Situation Room in which I got people who we know have been on ISIL Web sites, living here in the United States, U.S. citizens, and we’re allowed to put them on the no-fly list when it comes to airlines, but because of the National Rifle Association, I cannot prohibit those people from buying a gun.This is somebody who is a known ISIL sympathizer. And if he wants to walk into a gun store or a gun show right now and buy as much — as many weapons and ammo as he can, nothing’s prohibiting him from doing that, even though the FBI knows who that person is."
It's uncanny, tragic, and sad that just 11 days later someone who was an ISIS sympathizer and purchased his gun legally after being on an FBI watch list twice, would commit a mass shooting. I am positive the President was dismayed to see his point so solidified.
As a society we are supposed to learn from our mistakes. However in the past ten years, there has been a drastic number of mass shootings.
Sandy Hook: 26 people (mainly children),
Virginia Tech: 32 people
Fort Hood: 13 people
San Bernardino: 14 people, and so much more.
How massive are we willing to allow the death toll to grow before we take action? When is enough, enough?
Today the National Rifle Association (NRA) won't allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence. The people who are in charge of trying to minimize potentially lethal risks to the health of the general population cannot even do research on a major issue. The NRA has been blocking gun legislation from passing in the Congress for years.
How? The answer is plain and simple, money. The NRA spends significant capital hiring lobbyists in Washington to coerce senators. It's a fact that some of those Senators, who carry the complete faith of the many who elected them, bend to monetary incentives. We are looking at a partially corrupt congressional system.
Unfortunately, the passing of money from hand-to-hand doesn't make the very real issue of gun violence disappear. What we need is a bill. No, let me revise that, what we need is a bill to be passed in Congress which amends current gun laws. It should not be faster to buy a gun than to watch an episode of "Friends." It should not be easier to get a gun than to get a drivers license.
However, that's the society in which we all now live. Do your part, write to Congress and ask them, "when is enough, enough?"
