Don Roach: Obama Gets Gun Control Wrong...Again

Don Roach: Obama Gets Gun Control Wrong...Again

I believe President Obama is being sincere in issuing executive orders he hopes will “stop one act of evil, one act of violence.” I believe that he thinks that issuing an executive order to make it more difficult to get a gun will lead to less mass acts of violence that we have almost become accustomed to witnessing year after year.

But I think the President is wrong. I actually couldn’t disagree with him more. But first let me say that I feel for victims of any act of violence and to be honest, it could happen to any of us. Our children could have been attending kindergarten that fateful day at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. We could have been sitting in that Colorado movie theatre when a man decided it was time to destroy as many lives as possible. And we could have been in high school when a couple of students chose to end their lives and the lives of fellow Columbine students in 1999. 

Violence is all around us and if we have been fortunate to escape it, it is simply because we have been fortunate. The President like many good natured people believe that guns are the problem. The mantra goes that we shouldn’t allow guns into the hands of the wrong people. Who are the wrong people? Let’s say they are former felons, domestic abusers, people with mental illnesses, and any number of categories we put on those “wrong people."

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Even if we do all of that, does that stop even “one act of evil”? I say no, heck no. If there’s a person out there right now plotting evil, that person is going to do evil whether they have a handgun, machine gun, atom bomb, or whatever. If you put hoops in front of them they’ll still find a way to commit some act of evil. 

It’s like the person who was out last night looking for Powerball tickets (tonight’s drawing is about $450 million, by the way) and has to go to store after store to find an ATM machine because they have no cash to pay for the tickets. This person is going to find a way to buy their tickets just like the evil person will find a way to commit an act of violence; many of the gun control measures Obama and others advocate for are merely distractions to make people feel good that they are doing something to fight the violence in our country.

Me, I don’t want to just feel better like I’m doing something. I’d rather attack the problem at its source. We need to study why people commit such acts and try to foster environments that give people alternatives to violence. Whether it be promoting educational programs in school regarding bullying or providing counseling to adults on the Autism Spectrum, I feel our time and money would be better served in exploring the root cause of violence and not merely the tools used to commit acts of violence. 

Obama and others disagree. Instead they choose to vilify gun owners and the gun lobby while coming up with laws that do nothing to attack the source of the problem. There’s a lot of anger in America, why can’t we try to deal with that and not take the easy route and blame guns?

I think the answer lies in the fact that people want to sleep better at night but don’t want to put in the real work it takes to make change. You might think I’m being coy or judgmental when I say this, and maybe you’re right, but I’m tired of tactics like Obama’s used to battle gun violence. It doesn’t work and I believe there’s a better way. 

Why can’t we try that?

Don Roach is a Young Republican. Please check out Don’s Facebook Page.