Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 23, 2013
On what should have been an occasion of solemnity and the
reminder of the fragility of life, Barack Obama, never being one to miss an
opportunity, turned a memorial into a political speech and talking points for
future anti-gun candidates.
While none of the military and administration speakers
preceding Obama called for gun control during their eulogies, Obama connected
the names of the victims with the demand for more gun laws at the Navy Yard
memorial following the slaughter of a dozen innocent people Monday, September
16.
“If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we
really want to be a country where we can go to work and go to school and walk
our streets free from senseless violence without so many lives being stolen by
a bullet from a gun, then we’re going to have to change,” said Obama, Sunday
afternoon.
What Obama and the rest of the knee-jerk reactionary gun
control crowd either fails to realize or is simply intentionally obtuse for
political purposes, is that honest, law-abiding Americans are the ones affected
by gun control laws. The United States does not need additional laws pertaining
to the ownership and carrying of firearms. It needs to start by enforcing the
laws already enacted.
Criminals, by their nature of being criminals, will continue
to find ways to procure firearms and criminals are not impacted by potential
restrictions to the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
In the case of this particular murderer, Aaron Alexis,
34, a former Navy Reservist and information technology contractor apparently
wrestled with mental illness. Yet, he supposedly garnered his firearms legally.
Where was the mental health system to stop Alexis from acquiring guns in the
first place? Why didn’t his discharge record indicate a status that denied him
the right to own a gun?
And if any law should be changed, it should be the repeal
of a law signed by former President Bill Clinton denying employees on military
bases or buildings like Fort Hood or the Navy Yard from carrying a firearm. In
each case, where a dozen or more were slain, anyone with a firearm could have
thwarted the murderer/terrorist from carrying out the heinous crimes
perpetrated.
If history has taught us anything, it is that a
well-armed citizenry has the ability to ward off the tyranny of a government
swelled with unearned power. Those who would prefer to live in a world where
guns are not accepted are free to do so – no doubt the local Starbucks will
welcome you. For the rest of us who prefer to take personal responsibility for
the protection of our families, homes, businesses, and property, the Second
Amendment is still part of the Constitution.
Sanford D. Horn is
a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
