To the dismay of many, yet another mass shooting rocked the nation last Thursday at an Oregon community college, in which nine college students tragically lost their lives. With this shooting, the amount of domestic gun deaths since 2001 has jumped to 406,496. Still, the federal government has failed to pass a national law addressing gun violence. Perhaps former Gov. Jeb Bush summed up the American attitude toward the issue best by saying that “stuff happens.” It pains me to witness how even one of our top presidential candidates nonchalantly approaches the issue, as if it were a routine part of our culture. Are we really that resigned to this issue to think that it just happens, magically, almost every day of the year? I believe the American people are smarter and more determined than this. I also firmly believe that it is time for Congress to pass a bill that requires, at a bare minimum, thorough background checks on all individuals who wish to purchase a firearm.
Most Americans, regardless of their political orientation, support some type of gun reform. For instance, 85 percent of Americans favor background checks for private and gun show sales, while 80 percent of Americans agree the mentally ill should not be able to purchase firearms. Thus, after the killing of 20 first graders and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in late 2012, Americans wanted Congress to act. The Manchin-Toomey Senate Bill was the epitome of the type of common sense gun reform bill Congress should have taken action on. Introduced in the wake of Sandy Hook, it would have effectively expanded background checks for all firearms sales at gun shows and over the Internet, but was nevertheless shut down in a party-line vote despite getting a 54-vote majority. A bill that seemed to reflect the desires of the American people failed to even proceed past the Senate floor. Yet the National Rifle Association once again flexed its political muscle, claiming the law would have "criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens."
I beg to differ with the NRA on this point. For other policy ideas that came out around the same time, such as banning semi-automatic handguns and rifles, I could understand the NRA’s qualms. Yet, the Manchin-Toomey bill would not have criminalized the transactions of “honest citizens” unless, of course, someone with a criminal or psychiatric history was attempting to buy firearms. Is that not exactly what Congress should be working toward?
While the federal government has failed to take tangible steps to address gun violence, many state governments have taken it upon themselves to make their own states safer. Yet Oregon, the state where the recent tragedy took place, is one of only 10 states that allows handguns to be carried legally on college campuses. This is not necessarily to say this law is solely responsible for the tragedy that occurred last Thursday. Yet, studies have shown there is a strong correlation between states with strong gun laws and lower rates of gun deaths.
Even so, Sheriff John Hanlin of Douglas County, where the shooting took place, claimed after the Newtown shootings that “gun control is NOT the answer,” and that he would not enforce any attempt by the federal government to “tamper” with the Second Amendment. I agree the Second Amendment is important to the basic principles our country and our constitution. Yet, I have trouble buying the notion that bearing arms is a right. It should be a privilege to be able to own a gun in the United States, and a Manchin-Toomey-like law would ensure firearms fall into the hands of safe, responsible and well-intentioned individuals, instead of those who wish to do harm to innocent civilians.
The Second Amendment is precious, but not precious to the point where we should obliviously believe gun violence is just a matter of “stuff [that] happens” in the United States. Sorry, Jeb, but I hope the conversation surrounding the issue of gun violence will finally translate into true, tangible laws. At the very least, we need our elected leaders, and certainly the next president, to be willing to have a true, meaningful conversation that acknowledges that the status quo is unacceptable. We cannot afford to go on like this. It is Congress’ prerogative to look into the future and actually think about what can be done to prevent the next mass shooting. Knowing the backgrounds of those who wish to buy firearms in our country seems like a logical place to start.
Jesse Berman is a Viewpoint writer.
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