Gun control: Are we forgetting something in the debate?
Today, after the Parkland shooting, which left 17 people dead; gun laws are back on the political agenda. Fresh from his appearance in CPAC, President Trump announced an executive order to ban bump stocks. He also went after Republicans who are against gun control laws, going as far as saying that were bought by the NRA (National Rifle Association). In light of the shooting, and all the politicisation that happened afterwards, people are still pointing fingers in the wrong directions.
To begin with, here's a little reminder that the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution goes as the following: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The concept of protecting freedom was so important to the Founding Fathers that it was added after the free speech amendment. It seems that having freedoms was not enough, they thought; one would have to protect them.
Before talking about the shooting, people have to be reminded. A gun is an inanimate object, meaning it does not have a brain nor body parts to allow it to move. A gun will always be where its owner placed it. It can only move when taken by its owner or a third party. It can only shoot when its trigger is pulled. For that to happen, the user must pull the trigger. If not used by the owner, or a third party, the gun will be a simple object sitting in a safe or on a shelf.
In light of the shooting, people have forgotten that the first person to be guilty of the massacre was the shooter himself. He used the gun with the intension of causing chaos. He carried out the action. Yet, people and the media are pressed to blame guns and the NRA, demonstrating that people do not want to dig into the psychoanalysis of the shooter, and therefore allow lawmakers and citizens to come together to create a new body of law. Without the desire to perform psychoanalysis, the debate on the mental healthcare cannot be taken.
Additionally, multiple reports have shown that there was a high degree of failure from the federal government as the shooter was flagged years ago to the FBI and the agency failed to act accordingly. During the shooting, the sheriff and three other colleagues did not intervene to stop the rampage, thus a failed to perform their duty in the county.
Before talking about gun laws and the politics surrounding them, people and the media have to learn how to judge the totality of the events, thus allowing themselves to shape their positions in a better fashion. In the case of Parkland, the shooter has to be first on the guilty stand. In second, comes the FBI, who failed to act accordingly when the shooter was flagged. In third, come the Broward county sheriff and his deputies, who have failed to act in the face of the rampage, thus allowing for a heavier death toll. This will provide justice for those students. A ban, even though unconstitutional, will not solve the gun issue and will not provide any sort of justice.
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