Terrence McLaughlin Professor John Doorley Strategic Writing 20 January 2016 Assignment #3: Op-Ed
Living, but Not Breathing As they sat in the living room of their split-level ranch in rural Connecticut, Mark and Jackie Barden celebrated Mother’s Day in silence. While two of their children remained at school, the grieving parents rummaged through some old family photos together, only releasing a few sighs and soft murmurs. Earlier that morning, Mark had gone through whatever images he had saved on his computer. He printed the few that he had found, brought them upstairs from the basement, and placed them on a coffee table adjacent to the family’s velvet sofa.
On this foggy May afternoon, the couple had to select a photo of their deceased 7-year-old son Daniel. The photo was to be featured on a collaborative Mother’s Day card that the Barden’s and 19 other families were creating and eventually sending to lawmakers in every office of the U.S. Capitol Building.
The purpose of the card was to beseech lawmakers in Washington to look into the eyes of children who had fallen victim to an unimaginable act of gun violence. Previously, the Barden’s had walked through the halls of the Capitol, personally distributing hundreds of glossy photographs that pictured their red-headed son. They pleaded to those who would listen that congressional action on the matter of gun safety was of the utmost importance. However, since his death five months earlier, no progress had been made.
The story behind Daniel’s death is one that families across America know all too well. Daniel Barden, along with his 19 classmates, sat in their first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School on the morning of December 14, 2012. At 9:36 am, the class was interrupted by a popping noise coming from the end of school corridor. Daniel’s teacher huddled him and his classmates to the back corner of the once colorful classroom, where they were pinned against each other with no place to run. Adam Lanza, a stranger to the class, barged into the
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classroom with a Bushmaster XM15-E2S and a Glock 20SF. Within just two minutes, Lanza had taken the lives of every person in that classroom, including himself.
In the wake of tragedy America is quick to react. As history has shown, Americans have often reacted to traumatic events by uniting as one. In the 1940’s, people across the country grew united and found any reason they could to help America win the Second World War. In 2001, the terror attacks on September 11th helped redefine what it means to be a patriot. It seems that some of the most devastating events in our nation’s history have brought forth at least some good. However, this may no longer be a reality.
Mark and Jackie Barden, along with the other parents whose children died in that first-grade classroom, reacted to the tragedy as any grieving parents would. They painstakingly tried to capture the remaining moments they shared with there children, and began saying a long, and incredibly heartfelt farewell to the sons and daughters that they would never be able to say goodnight to again.
The rest of America reacted by offering condolences and holding community vigils in the weeks following the tragedy. Representatives in Connecticut, New York, and Maryland prepared to author legislation that regulated firearm sales and possession in their respective states. Even the President spoke on the matter, and urged congress to act on the issue of gun violence by passing similar legislation at the federal level.
The administrations response, in terms of the key legislative points, was focussed on reintroducing a ban on some assault weapons, limiting the amount of rounds in magazines for semi-automatic weapons to ten, and requiring background checks for all firearm sales. Comparatively, these proposals were modest; many other advanced, developed nations like France, the U.K., Australia, and Germany have gone further with arms regulation. Nonetheless, Congress failed to pass the legislation. The only progressive actions taken by the federal government were two sets of executive actions introduced by the president in 2013, and just recently, on January 5, 2016.
Today, America faces an array of astounding challenges; and like never before, we find ourselves in need of moral clarification. Depending on who you speak to, the severity of these
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challenges vary. When President Obama took office in 2008, he felt that the most pressing issue (aside from rebuilding the national economy) was reforming the American healthcare system. As he prepares to leave the White House next January, it’s become apparent that the challenge he wishes to combat most is gun violence.
While the issue of gun violence is a matter that warrants a great amount of attention, it seems that one of the key challenges that we face as a nation has absolutely nothing to do with policy; but rather, it has to do with restoring the values that we as a nation have always fought so hard to protect.
As a nation we’ve sacrificed our love of country for the individual needs and wants of every American. In fact, our lack of national pride has inhibited our ability to unite. This fact is evident in our politics where Congress would prefer to look at lawmaking as a chore rather than a duty. At the dinner table, it’s become easier for a spirited debate to turn into a personal attack. And more so than ever before, political views now equate with ones level of intelligence.
The existing culture of political divisiveness has led us to lose touch with the founding principles outlined in the U.S. Constitution. While the document remains intact, it’s spirit is forgotten. Americans no longer acknowledge that this country has always emphasized the importance of moral obligation. In many ways, the foundation of the U.S. is based around this very principle. Prior to this, it was never the duty of the state to serve its citizens. In my view, Americas foundation was centered around a moral responsibility to fundamentally change the purposes of statehood. Why else would the Constitution assure the establishment of inalienable rights?
President Obama has tried to set aside politics and do what’s right for the nation. Ironically, it is us who have failed him. During his tenure, Obama has had to offer his personal condolences to many people like Mark and Jackie Barden. One of the first mass shootings Obama saw in office took place in in 2011, when an Army psychiatrist killed 13 and injured 32 at a U.S. military base Ford Hood, TX. In 2012, Obama got news of a shooting in Aurora, CO, where the assailant killed 12 and injured 70 in a movie theater. Most recently, a radicalized Muslim couple from San Bernardino, CA murdered 14 and injured 21 at an office Christmas party in December.
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By collectively analyzing tragedies such as the ones listed above, we see a trend. In the absence of common-sense gun safety legislation, there is a higher possibility that any given American will be involved in an act of gun violence. This conclusion can be derived by looking at the amount of guns that currently exist in the U.S. According to The Washington Post, there are approximately 112.6 guns per 100 residents. Not only does America hold the title for most guns per capita, but Americans also own more gun than any other nationality, and we see the largest share of gun-related deaths per year. In fact, it is estimated that 89 people die as a result of gun violence each day in the U.S.
While many readers may scoff at this conclusion, the reality is that the more guns a country possesses, the more likely gun violence is to occur. Any level-headed and rational human being with even an iota of compassion would be somewhat understanding of President Obama’s efforts. When an event like the Sandy Hook shooting occurs, it doesn't just deserve an appropriate response, it requires one.
To some the Sandy Hook shooting was an unavoidable tragedy that no law or government mandate could have prevented. Others went as far as to say that the government should actively arm schools, and introduce more guns into “the situation.” These reactions are not only offensive, they are a moral disgrace.
I recognize that some readers may disagree with the position of the president, and that some may even suggest that what he is doing is unconstitutional. However, it’s clear that the values outlined in the Constitution would only support what the president is trying to accomplish. In the eyes of the Constitution, it’s the duty of the government to protect those who abide by it. While the Constitution protects the right “to keep and bear arms,” this protection is not absolute. The opposition of any firearm regulation directly ignores the core purposes of the Constitution. While the document clearly defines the law of the land, the purpose of the Constitution is “to form a more perfect union.” The principles of which the Constitution is based not only support the need for more regulation, but they also serve as a catalyst for change. A “more perfect union” can not be achieved unless gun regulations are changed.
As was mentioned, there are events in Americas history that have united the country. In fact, these events have helped form a more perfect union. To ignore the challenge of reducing gun
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violence, we must all recognize that American’s have a moral and legal obligation to alter the irresponsible lack of firearm regulation. Furthermore, in order to respect the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, as well as the victims of gun violence everywhere, it is our moral obligation as a country to act.
Web Sources: 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-newtown-shooting-mourning-parents-enterinto-the-lonely-quiet/2013/06/08/0235a882-cd32-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html 3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/jackie-and-mark-barden-parents-of-newtown-victimdaniel-was-a-kind-little-soul/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting 5. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/05/remarks-president-common-sensegun-safety-reform 6. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/10/us/gun-sales-terrorism-obamarestrictions.html 7. http://www.gannett-cdn.com/GDContent/mass-killings/index.html#frequency 8. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/remarks-from-the-nra-press-conference-on-sandyhook-school-shooting-delivered-on-dec-21-2012-transcript/2012/12/21/bd1841fe-4b88-11e2a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html
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