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Opinion The Last Word

Enough, Already: Lack of Sensible Gun Laws is Killing Us

Thirty seconds.
Nine people killed, 27 injured. Thirty seconds is all it took with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and a high capacity magazine to wreak that kind of havoc in Dayton, Ohio, last weekend. Local police took the suspect down in record time. But still.

Thirty seconds.

How long before this happens in Memphis? When could it be “our turn”? It is a terrible thought, but isn’t that on everyone’s mind right now? 

Kbiros | Dreamstime.com

We are going to have to stand up and say “enough is enough.” And it isn’t going to be easy. No single solution is going to wipe out all of this violence. But something — anything — needs to be done. I honestly thought Sandy Hook would do it. Then I thought maybe Vegas would surely knock some common sense into our elected leaders. But no.

It is time for our government to institute real change, and it is going to take ordinary citizens like all of us to force the change. Our voices do indeed matter. It doesn’t matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, and it has nothing to do with your “platform.” These are people’s lives in the balance, and tomorrow, it might be your kid.

We have to take an honest look in the mirror and realize that no other country in the Western civilized world has the massive amount of issues with gun deaths as our own country. Over 30,000 dead each year! The statistics overwhelmingly point to a serious issue, yet Americans’ undying love of our gun culture somehow overrules common sense when it comes to keeping the public safe.

People talk about our “freedom” that we have in the U.S. And we do have a lot of freedom. Maybe too much sometimes? I’m sorry, but there are just some folks who should never have the opportunity to own a lethal weapon — especially something that can kill nine people in 30 seconds.

As a former cop in the military and, for a while, in civilian life, I can state without a doubt that these types of weapons should not be in the hands of civilians.

And I am here to say that no, folks, Democrats do not want to “take your guns away.” What Democrats and, in fact, about 70 percent of the country’s voting public want, according to a recent poll, are sensible gun laws, including:

• Comprehensive background checks

• Psych evals

• Red flag laws

• Ban high-capacity magazines

• Assault-style weapons ban or strict regulation

These are all sensible, reasonable ideas that will help cut down the carnage. And if not an outright ban on these high-capacity, rapid-firing weapons, why not do it just like the military? Require people to store them in an armory at a gun range, and they can check them out when they want to target shoot. This is what we did in the military. Not one of us took home our M-16s. It should be no different, if not more strict, in civilian life.

Let me put it this way. We have to take a test to drive a car, which can be lethal but rarely kills nine people in 30 seconds. And if you can’t pass a written or practical test, guess what? You don’t get to drive on public roads. Sensible firearm regulation should be the same, just as it is in so many countries around the world who have strong gun regulations and very little gun crime.

My next statement will no doubt piss a few people off — maybe more than a few — but it is true: The Second Amendment was written during a time when our country was brand-new, and the founding fathers sought to arm a “well-regulated militia” (i.e. a military unit) to ensure that the checks and balances that were put in place would stand and that no foreign powers could easily come and overthrow our fledgling nation.

The times have changed. It’s been 250 years. The Second Amendment should be amended, or other laws should be put in place around it. I am a responsible gun owner, and I am more than happy to take any test you throw at me. If you aren’t willing to take and pass a test or to undergo a simple background check, you don’t deserve to own a lethal weapon.

The right to live peacefully in our country, without fear of getting mowed down by someone with a gun, supersedes the Second Amendment.

Zach Bair is CEO of Music Technology Company VNUE, a Mid-South recording artist, and owner of two live music venues in Memphis.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

The New Normal: Stopping the Scourge of Mass Shootings

Another week, another shooting. I might be becoming desensitized to gun violence, but when we live in a world where news of mass shootings is a regularly occurring trending topic on social media, it’s hard not to.

It’s easier to just sum it up as just another day in America. Almost no place is safe any longer — not malls, diners, movie theaters, concerts, churches, nightclubs, or schools.

REUTERS / Loren Elliott

Santa Fe High School student Sierra Dean mourns the death of her friends killed in a recent shooting.

Seventeen students dead at a school one day and then 10 another day. How many will it be next time? Even one is too many. Of all places, schools should be a safe harbor, but they’re starting to seem more like a war zone in this country. There have been 23 school shootings in the United States in the first 21 weeks of 2018, according to a report released by CNN. That’s an average of more than one shooting per week.

I hate to admit it, but it’s tempting to accept that this is just the way things are going to be in this country from now on. Kids will go to school fearing for their lives, wondering if one of their classmates will decide to pull the trigger on them and their friends. All the while, lawmakers and the NRA sit back and let it happen.

Mass shootings don’t come as a shock anymore. It’s become normalized. We shouldn’t accept that, though. Instead, we should be outraged that this has become the new normal. Everyone (with an ounce of humanity) should be appalled that young lives are senselessly taken by gun violence week after week, month after month, year after year.

Clearly, some lawmakers value gun rights and the NRA’s lobby money more than they do innocent kids in classrooms. But at some point, it becomes the government’s responsibility to do something to curb this mass shooting epidemic. A good place to start would be working to change how easy it is for someone to get a gun in this country. It’s pretty backwards that Walmart can sell guns everywhere, but in some states can’t sell liquor.

It makes absolutely no sense there are ways to purchase a gun without first having to go through a background check. Currently, only nine states and Washington, D.C., require background checks for all gun sales, meaning in 40 states, anyone, criminal record or not, can purchase a gun from an unlicensed seller. You could be a most-wanted criminal or on the verge of a psychotic breakdown, and because of this country’s haphazard gun laws, it can still be quite easy to acquire a gun.

Or, as in the case of Dylann Roof, who killed nine South Carolinian parishioners in 2016 with a handgun he should have never been allowed to possess, you can own a firearm in three days’ time without ever even passing a background check.

It’s bad enough to consider how accessible these weapons are, without even taking into account the different types of guns people can buy. Assault-type rifles with high-capacity magazines designed to kill as many people as possible and as quickly as possible, should in no way be allowed in the hands of an untrained civilian. Why does anyone need a military-grade weapon in everyday life? That’s a recipe for disaster. The Constitution gives people the right to bear arms, but an AR-15? Really? No one needs an assault rifle to scare off a burglar or hunt deer.

To add insult to injury — literally — you only have to be 18 to buy this kind of weapon in most states. No, son, you can’t drink that beer, but you can be the proud owner of an assault weapon.

We need better and stronger gun control laws now. The “guns don’t kill people, people do” argument is old and tired. Blaming mass shootings on mental illness is similarly old and tired. And using the Second Amendment to justify owning military-grade weapons is a nice try, but tightening laws on such weapons to protect human life doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights.

The NRA is buying our legislators’ support and has gotten a level of clout it doesn’t deserve. It’s past time for politicians to stand up to the NRA and diminish the organization’s influence over gun control policies in this country. It’s time a decent concern for human life trumped money and politics and the gun lobby.

Maya Smith is a Flyer staff writer.