Thirteen months ago, Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and killed twenty students and six members of the school’s staff. Earlier, Lanza shot and killed his mother before driving to the school on his deadly mission. His death at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head ended the brutal killing spree. In the days following the horrific event, calls for sane gun control from a variety of sectors of our society were heard across the country.
In the days, weeks and months after that ill-fated day, concerned citizens and elected officials came forward in support of legislation to, if not to put a stop to the violence, to at least put in place gun reform to make mass killings of this nature harder to accomplish. It should be noted that no one called for taking away American’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Advocates asked for reasonable restrictions on assault rifles, oversized magazine clips and closing the gun show “loophole” that exempts private owners from selling firearms without the background checks licensed dealers are required to make to name only a few.
In a particularly obtuse abuse of power, any hope of meaningful gun control reform was squashed by the likes of the National Rifle Association whose members represent not just average citizens, but also, some of the largest gun manufacturers and weapons dealers in the country. Through pressure placed on state and federal legislators and aggressive media campaigns, the NRA made certain sane gun control legislation never saw the light of day. One can understand the NRA’s actions only from a monetary standpoint and in terms of the profit motive that drives these entities to throw common sense to the wind and continue to allow guns to fall into the hands of people who use them, not for sport or self-defense, but for murder.
In an article in the online news magazine, Think Progress, author Adam Heck details just how serious the problem has become. Heck notes that in 2013 there were twenty-eight school shooting in the United States (based on finding of Moms Demand Action). He goes on to note at the time of the article’s publication that in January there had been seven school shootings, or as he stated, “There has been an average of one school shooting every other school day so far this year.” Regardless of what side of the fence you find yourself, these statistics are startling and tragic.
It is time for Americans to stand up for what is right and honorable on this issue. Sane gun control protects us all from horrors like Sandy Hook, Columbine, and yes, even our own Nevada city, Sparks. This isn't rocket science. Legislation that protects gun owners and victims’ rights is not necessarily mutually exclusive. It does, however, take the will of the people to become law. America needs to stop listening to the voices of corporations and interest groups telling us what is wrong with gun control and decide for ourselves how to put an end to these heartbreaking incidents.