Editorial

What Will It Take?

Posted

How many more innocent Americans will be shot dead—inexplicably and in cold blood—before we say “enough,” and mean it?

Before we take serious steps to enact sensible gun laws that could keep these powerful weapons out of the hands of those who should not have them?

Before we change our reflexive fallback to our “right” to bear arms, no matter whom, how or where?

We thought maybe the turning point would come after the horrific 2011 attack on then-Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was greeting constituents outside an Arizona supermarket when she was critically wounded in a hail of gunfire that killed six others. Not a chance. In fact, Arizona actually loosened its restrictions on firearms after the incident.

We thought for sure that the 2012 tragedy in Newtown, Conn., where 20 elementary school children and six staff members were mowed down in their classrooms right before Christmas would be the final outrage. And it was, but in only a handful of states, including New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed through tighter restrictions on guns in the SAFE Act.

But it’s not enough. The tally of senseless shootings continues to mount—in movie theaters, shopping malls, churches and other sites across the country—with the most recent occurring in just the last two weeks.

First, there were the two young journalists, a TV reporter and cameraman, who were shot dead during a live broadcast in Roanoke, Va., by a troubled former colleague. Then there was the uniformed deputy sheriff in Houston, Texas, who was pumping gas into his patrol car when a gunman came up behind him and opened fire.

Guns are easy to get in this country, legally and illegally.

Indeed, in an operation aimed at stemming the supply of illegal guns into the area, a 61-year-old bystander in Mount Vernon was tragically shot and killed, also within the last two weeks, by an NYPD officer when an undercover gun buy went horribly wrong.

The proposals that gun safety advocates bring out after these high-profile incidents are depressingly, maybe even numbingly, familiar: A system of strong, national background checks for potential gun purchasers (the New York model is a good one); limits on the number of guns that can be bought at a single time, to cut down on inter-state trafficking; extending background check requirements to gun shows and private sales; restricting ammunition capacity and tighter restrictions on handgun ownership and concealed carry laws.

Would such measures stop all senseless shootings? Of course not. But they surely could prevent many tragedies, and begin to foster a mindset that focuses on the reality of what guns can do.

Now, a lot of pro-gun advocates will say, as always, that the problem is not about guns, it’s about mental illness. Keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people will not happen without some kind of system in place.

And it’s not likely that too many candidates in a presidential election cycle want to talk about guns either, whether legal or illegal—especially when they can get the response they want by talking about the “problem” of illegal immigrants.

To be clear, we don’t advocate a ban on the private ownership of firearms, just as we do not advocate the deportation of 11 million immigrants. What we want is to move the conversation in a positive direction, whether it’s about immigrants or guns or any other serious issue facing Americans.

We want, in other words, what’s best for our country, and we pray our fellow citizens join us on that journey.