Thursday’s school shooting in Perry, Iowa has affected me more than the massacres at Sandy Hook, Parkland or Uvalde. Maybe that’s because I didn’t have grandchildren when those tragedies occurred, but I do now.
Despite the fact that my granddaughter is only 18 months old and her little cousin is half her age, I know it won’t be long before both of them are enrolled in elementary school. I never worried about gun shots ringing out when their parents were young, but I do worry about my grandkids’ safety now.
To be sure, talking about gun control can be complicated, especially when the Second Amendment is included in the discussion. Still, I wonder how many more children have to be wounded or worse before lawmakers wake up and smell the gunpowder?
Like Rosalynn Carter did when her husband was in office, I hope Jill Biden can convince the president to convene a summit at Camp David. Only this time, the summit won’t be with old warriors from the Middle East but with representatives from the NRA, law enforcement and grieving families. It won’t be easy, but I am confident they eventually will be able to find common ground on new gun safety measures. At least that’s my hope for 2024.
After Thursday’s shooting, I'm guessing the good people of Perry feel the same way.
-DF
I hope (Wish? Pray?) for some sort of 'Camp David' affair, especially if they lock the necessary participants in a room with no food or bathroom breaks until the issue is resolved.
It is NOT a complicated issue (IMHO) - only obstinate state and federal legislators who are beholden to the gun lobby. There have been many laws passed in the past restricting who can own a gun, what kind of weapons can be owned by ordinary citizens (Thompson sub-machine guns, bazookas, grenade launchers, Abrams tanks are prohibited, to name a few), and where rhey can be carried (airports, the Capitol).
And - for the Originalists out there - it was understood in 1776 that citizens could have a musket for hunting and to protect their families from bears and 'natives'. But the primary reason for the 2nd Amendment was to provide for protection from foreign armies - the British, the French - who were both still trying to colonize the North American continent. Hence, the specific text relating the "right to bear arms" to the "well regulated militia."
I know I am hopelessly optimistic that America will come to its senses before it's too late. And 'too late' is rapidly approaching.
Congress doesn't have the time to work on immigration or gun legislation, two critical issues, but they have time to impeach President Biden with no evidence and investigate Hunter Biden (who was never on a government payroll. Congress should make the Hunter. Biden hearing interesting by including the three trump children that were on the payroll (or using government services, especially son-in-law Jared who came back from Saudi Arabia with $2 billion dollars.