Reflections on the Status of the Gun Control Debate Today
JACK LITTLE: I want to share a story that deeply moved me from my internship over the summer at my Senator’s local district office. It wasn’t an especially glamorous internship: many of my daily responsibilities included answering phones, sorting and archiving files, and shredding paper. I don’t mean to sound unappreciative of this rare opportunity that I was fortunate to experience. I realize this is what many student internships are like. I just mean to say that most of the time, although my assignments were crucial to the inner workings of the office, I wasn’t conducting especially glamourous work.
One day in particular, however, stands out above the rest.
I was seated at my desk on a Monday morning when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a woman from Dayton, Ohio, where a mass shooting had occurred only days prior. Although she was not a constituent, I wanted to listen to her perspective on a tragedy that had struck her own community.
She told me how fourteen incredibly strong tornadoes had recently ripped through Dayton. Thankfully, an emergency alert warned residents to take cover just five minutes before they struck, and no one was injured.
On the other hand, the gunman killed nine innocent bystanders in only thirty seconds. “It’s gotten to the point where, with these assault rifles, people are literally more destructive than the ultimate wrath of God,” she exclaimed. “Something needs to change.”
Stories like these should serve as a shocking reminder about the increasing destructiveness of guns today and how something so simple as banning assault rifles could result in many lives being saved.
Unfortunately, however, the gun control debate is an especially polarized one, and it’s often difficult to rise above the partisan fray. The topic of gun control comes up frequently after mass shootings but quickly fades away from the public consciousness after seemingly more pressing issues arise. We can see this occurring right now. Whereas there seemed to be a newfound bipartisan motivation to enact common sense gun reform only months ago after the shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, that legislative energy has since been redirected towards impeachment, whether to investigate or defend the president.
We must remember that mass shootings affect not only individuals but entire communities, like the Dayton community from where the caller lived. We must realize that common sense gun reforms like banning assault rifles would save lives. And finally, we must strive for this bipartisan, and frankly nonpartisan, reform by consistently holding Congress accountable to serving the interests of their constituents, rather than the NRA.