Eugene Robinson: On Guns, Take Action Now

[babylonsister]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/12/18/on_guns_take_action_now_116448.html

On Guns, Take Action Now

By Eugene Robinson - December 18, 2012


WASHINGTON -- We are not helpless to stop the massacre of innocent children. We must begin -- today, right now, this minute -- taking guns out of the hands of madmen, and the first step should be a ban on military-style assault weapons such as the rifle used to turn a Connecticut school into a slaughterhouse.

That won't be enough to end all the carnage, but it will save some lives. It is admirable that President Obama, members of Congress and other elected officials are deeply horrified and saddened by what happened Friday in Newtown. But the moment calls for action, not words, and politicians who are too craven or stupid or ideologically rigid to finally move forward on gun control will have the blood of future victims on their hands.

snip//

That some right-wing lawmakers and commentators have responded to Newtown by calling for teachers, principals and campus security guards to be armed is beyond obscene -- and beneath contempt. More guns, with amateurs firing every which way, surely would have meant more dead children and more grieving families.

"We can't tolerate this anymore," Obama said Sunday at the Newtown memorial service, the fourth such sad ceremony he has attended during his four years in office.

"These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change," Obama said. "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this."

We can and we must. We should begin with a strict assault weapons ban. Here are 20 reasons why:

Charlotte Bacon, 6. Daniel Barden, 7. Olivia Engel, 6. Josephine Gay, 7. Dylan Hockley, 6. Madeleine Hsu, 6. Catherine Hubbard, 6. Chase Kowalski, 7. Jesse Lewis, 6. Anna Marquez-Greene, 6. James Mattioli, 6. Grace McDonnell, 7. Emilie Parker, 6. Jack Pinto, 6. Noah Pozner, 6. Caroline Previdi, 6. Jessica Rekos, 6. Avielle Richman, 6. Benjamin Wheeler, 6. Allison Wyatt, 6.