Here's what you can do about gun control in America
In the wake of the most recent mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, President Obama is angry, as he should be. And you should be fired up, too — because the president cannot change things alone.
So, what are you going to do about the issue of gun control?
President Obama is traveling to Oregon Friday to meet with families of those killed and injured by a gunman who killed nine others and took his own life at a community college.
Immediately following the mass shooting, just one in a long line of mass shootings, 294 this year alone — Obama made it plain.
“As I said, just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough,” Obama suggested.
But he said even more, urging people to become single issue voters on gun control, in light of the fact that 90 percent or more of Democratic, Republican and independent voters support background checks, and yet a Republican-controlled Congress dares not even address the matter, much less vote on it.
Everyone knows that with 33,000 gun fatalities each year, including suicides and homicides, this situation is out of control in America. And for the black community — with gun violence as the leading cause of death for young black men — there should be a sense of urgency on this.
President Obama said, “We’ve got to change the politics of this. And that requires people to feel – not just feel deeply – because I get a lot of letters after this happens. ‘Do something!’ Well, okay, here’s what you need to do.”
“You have to make sure that anybody who you are voting for is on the right side of this issue. And if they’re not, even if they’re great on other stuff, for a couple of election cycles you’ve got to vote against them, and let them know precisely why you’re voting against them. And you just have to, for a while, be a single-issue voter because that’s what is happening on the other side,” he added.
Obama also noted that this strategy will take some time, given that the NRA has been playing the game for quite some time; they know how to scare people and scare politicians, stir up the base and raise money. And they do all of this without even representing the majority of the public. “And the American people are going to have to match them in their sense of urgency if we’re actually going to stop this,” he said.
There, the president told you what you need to do. He can hold press conferences, offer executive actions on gun control — he already issued 23 of them following the Newtown mass shooting — urge Congress to act and pledge his commitment to addressing this problem. However, the man is articulating a long-term plan and only occupies the White House until January 2017.
This is not to downplay the good that executive orders can accomplish. The president has asked his people to “scrub” existing gun laws to assess what can be done to prevent massacres. In addition, Everytown For Gun Safety has recommended that Obama enact, without Congressional involvement, five small changes to the way federal and state governments interpret existing laws. This includes the Department of Justice clarifying to law enforcement that the federal prohibition on gun purchases by those convicted of domestic abuse applies when the abusers and victim are not married.
Hillary Clinton, who is running for president, has made some recommendations of her own, including universal background checks and a crackdown on internet gun sales. Clinton, who also said the issue has been hijacked by extremists, wants to ban military-style assault weapons, use executive action to close the gun show loophole, and repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which would hold gun dealers and manufacturers negligent when crimes are committed with their products.
The candidate also called for a “national movement” to stand up to the NRA, which once again falls beyond the power of the White House. “Ideally, what I would love to see,” Clinton said, “is gun owners, responsible gun owners, hunters, form a different organization and take back the second amendment from the extremists.”
To build such a movement as Clinton and Obama recommend requires voting the right people in Congress and supporting gun control and anti-gun violence organizations such as Everytown For Gun Safety, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Americans for Responsible Solutions and Ceasefire PA.
Democracy is not an armchair spectator sport, and one person, however powerful and no matter how many tools at his disposal, is unable to wave a magic wand and fix America’s gun woes. When it comes to the problem of gun violence in America, you must be as angry and motivated to act as President Obama.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove
