WITH several mass killings in the past years, finally, the demand and push for solutions to solve gun violence in America has reached a tipping point.
More than two weeks ago, twenty young innocent first graders and six school personnel were brutally slaughtered by a lone young gun man in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The gunman was 20-year old Adam Lanza, who used his mother’s two pistols and a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle — a civilian version of the military’s M-16 that is legal to own in many states.
After killing 26 victims and his own mother at their house, Lanza committed suicide. Adam reportedly learned how to shoot from his gun-collecting mom.
President Barack Obama pledged to “use all the powers of this office” to identify and promote new policies to address the scourge of gun violence.
He tapped Vice President Joe Biden to head a task force composed of Cabinet members, members of Congress and outside organizations, which would submit a “very specific” set of proposals to Congress in January.
In the wake of the Newtown massacre, more Americans now favor stricter gun control laws.
Gallup Poll conducted a survey from December 19-22, 2012 which found that 58 percent of Americans are in favor of strengthening the laws covering the sale of firearms — up from 43 percent in 2011.
Several state and federal lawmakers have already announced that they will seek to ban both semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity ammunition magazines from the commercial market.
However, the same poll by Gallup also revealed that Americans’ views on the sale of assault rifles are unchanged. The slight majority (51 percent) still opposed the idea of making assault rifles illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess.
One of the many groups who demanded that President Obama and Congress come up with a plan to end gun violence is Demand A Plan.
As Balitang America reported, this is a group which is composed of more than 800 mayors and 800,000 grassroots supporters.
Organizers of Demand a Plan say that “they cannot bring back the people lost in Newtown, nor the 33 people murdered with guns everyday in America,” but together, they say America can prevent future tragedies “by passing common sense legislation that will require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real penalties for ‘straw purchasers.’”
Organizers say more than 300,000 Americans have signed the petition on their website, www.demandaplan.org.
Balitang America further reported that popular personalities (like Ellen Degeneres, Julianne Moore, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Palthrow, Brooke Shields, Conan O’Brien and many more) have used their celebrity status to help the organization in furthering the cause.
They took turns saying the lines: “How many more? How many more? Enough. Enough. Enough. Demand a plan. Right now… as a mom, as a dad, as a friend, as a husband, as a wife. As an American. As a human being. For the children of Sandy Hook.”
Despite the broad public outcry favoring the passing of stricter gun-control laws, President Obama faces formidable forces from Congress and pro-gun groups that may still keep the legislation process dormant.
Republicans still hold majority in the House for the next two years. While Democrats rule the Senate, there are still enough gun-rights votes to stall a bill. It may still be a big challenge for President Obama to win the support of lawmakers from both parties (Yes, not just Republicans). As TIME Magazine reported, there are still those who are “beholden to the gun lobby or at least lack the will to challenge it.”
One such pro-gun lobby group is the National Rifle Association (NRA). As Balitang America reported, instead of the public clamor for less guns, the NRA has put forward a solution that is asking for more guns.
In fact, NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre recently said: “The thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” To achieve this, his plan is to hire armed guards for every school in America.
Others propose that teachers and other school personnel should be trained and allowed to carry guns in school, in order to be equipped to protect school children from bad guys with guns.
Where will this renewed passion and mission to end gun violence in America take us? What should President Obama do to attain this goal, while still protecting the “right to bear arms,” as mandated by the US Constitution? Will arming good guys be the solution to gun violence?
* * *
Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
