Lawmakers have no right to be shocked at another mass shooting | Opinion
Yet again I am writing a column about innocent children and teachers who were slaughtered, this time at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. I watch as politicians blame the shooter and not the easy access to the high-powered weapons that caused the atrocity. I listen as officials rush to determine the mental stability of the shooter and his right as an 18-year-old to purchase such a weapon and have so many rounds of ammunition after shooting his grandmother.
I agonize with other citizens who weep, wring their hands, pray and decry the tragedy that took the lives of those babies, but I am hardened to the fact that such shootings will happen again and again under the circumstances when weapons of war are so accessible. As long as the love of guns is ingrained in the American male psyche, most boys will continue to grow up desiring the largest, most dangerous weapon on the market.
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The massacres will continue as long as politicians in Washington, D.C., and Nashville pass laws making these weapons easier to own and carry. They seem to take such glee in supporting the misinterpretation of Second Amendment rights, but if they stopped for a moment to understand what it really says, they might have other thoughts. Those words are clearer than most in official documents.
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Those words were ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, before we had police departments, sheriffs, highway patrols or an organized military. Ordinary citizens were authorized to defend themselves and their communities with single-shot muskets. We seem to forget the first clause of that amendment.
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We don't need AK-47s and AR-15s to shoot targets or turkeys. They were designed for use in war to penetrate enemy protection at a distance. Yet the macho in us commands and demands that we must have one.
As long as they are legal for the general public, they will eventually fall into the wrong hands. They may be taken in a burglary, "borrowed" by a young family member or bought by a person with latent dementia. Even the most stable minds have been known to be pushed over the edge.
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The saddest part is that we have gutless leaders in Washington and Nashville who are not deeply affected by the carnage caused by such weapons and quickly get over it. They continue to grin, shake hands and slap each other on the back as they approve the proliferation of guns and have the nerve to profess sorrow when more people are mowed down while performing their daily routines.
Those mealy-mouthed individuals who represent us won't even discuss gun control. They prefer to talk about mental health and advocate for more people with guns in the schools for protection because they believe the public is in favor of having them. Until voters stand up and say the weapons of war should be banned, the politicians will continue to do nothing except express shock at the next massacre.
Robert J. Booker is a freelance writer and former executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. He may be reached at 865-546-1576.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lawmakers have no right to be shocked at another mass shooting
