Wednesday, December 19, 2012

(Opinion) Sandy Hook Massacre: Gun Control Legislation Cannot Be Denied Any Longer




Sandy Hook Massacre


This article will not recount the horror and carnage that took place on Friday December 14th as the events that transpired on that day are seared into the collective American consciousness and beyond. What this article will address in length is the reaction to such a tragedy as all that can be done now is to remember and bury the 20 children and 7 adults who perished and do everything possible to make such an act doesn’t happen again.  

President Obama has accomplished much in his four years in office, he has made sure women are paid the same amount as men for the same work, he has rid this world of the menace of Osama Bin Laden and a played a large role in saving the American automotive industry but has been disappointingly silent on the need for gun control.

Gun control is a difficult issue to negotiate for democrats and republicans as the democrats appear not have to have the stomach for a showdown with the powerful and influential gun lobby and the republicans operate as wholly owned subsidiary of it. However after the Sandy Hook Massacre, such excuses will not quell the ground swell across the nation calling for something to be done on guns.

Political expediency is no excuse to do nothing in the face of great tragedy, while this not the first mass shooting the president has done little to combat, with the death of  27 people, most of which were children, president Obama surely does not want to be known as the president who did nothing in response to the cold blooded murder of 27 American citizens.

The president has had the opportunity to address prevalence of guns in American society but has shirked the opportunity to act or even comment at any length on the need for gun control. Four major mass shootings have taken place under Obama’s Presidency, which is, obviously four too many. He must do everything to prevent there being a fifth tragedy, making inaction an national travesty and personal shame on the president as he, through doing nothing reneges on his first duty as president of the united states, keep his fellow citizens safe from all threats foreign and domestic.  

Obama must take on the powerful gun lobby and pro-gun republicans in coming up with smart and needed gun control legislation starting with a ban on assault rifles and automatic weapons as such weapons have only one function: to kill and maim whatever and whoever they are aimed at.

In conclusion, there are no excuses for the Obama Whitehouse and congress not acting on putting together reasonable gun control legislation in the face of unspeakable horror and pain simply because time, the American people will except nothing less than bold action, the price for the failure to act will serve as a vindication of why political institutions in America are hated by it citizens. It will also be a personal shame on a president who promised so much back in 2008 who would been seen by fellow citizens to have reneged on his highest duty as president above all else; to keep fellow Americans safe.              

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