Gun Control: Mind Over Matter

In the last decade this country has seen many mass shootings and after each shooting the federal government has said they will tackle the issue of gun control and universal background checks. Now, with two mass shootings earlier this month that took the lives of some thirty plus innocent victims the government still has done nothing. The Congress has been on summer break and the President went on vacation while families have been holding funerals for their loved ones.

There are those that say that simply having universal background checks will do nothing to curb the violence. That is probably true. A person wanting to purchase a weapon only has to find someone who wants to sell a gun and pay the money for it. Coming from a family that attended gun shows some fourteen or fifteen weekends a year, I was privy to gun sales without background checks all the time. Even when my father opened the gun shop we had to run background checks with all our gun sales, but that didn’t stop individuals from buying guns from someone else.

The idea of gun control by taking certain weapons off the street is also something that has been talked about for many years. The AR-15 that was used in one of the last mass shootings is usually sold as a single shot semi-automatic weapon, yet all you have to do is change one piece on the weapon and you have an automatic gun that can kill many. Some individuals like to take this gun hunting which makes the sport of hunting a thing of the past. The animal simply doesn’t have a chance.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not recalled Congress, will not do so, and once again nothing will be done about these issues. The President simply talked with the head of the NRA gun lobby. All that came out of that meeting was universal background checks has been taken off the table. So, once again money talks and bullshit walks.

The one thing that no one wants to address is that it takes a finger to pull the trigger of these guns. Maybe just maybe, we should be looking at the mental health problems that these people are suffering from and addressing that issue. This country doesn’t look at the mental health issues that plagues us and take care of that problem. So, for now, many people will die due to the neglect of our leaders into finally addressing the issues that might stop the violence.