“They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
– Sen. Barack Obama 2008
Barack Obama made this relatively controversial statement back in 2008 while campaigning in North Carolina, when asked about small-town voters across the Midwest and their growing frustrations with the political business of Washington D.C.
Four years later, Americans are clinging to their guns like never before. The rash of school shootings, gun violence and unexplainable deaths by handguns are accelerating at a pace that is unprecedented.
Americans love guns more than fat kids love cake; hunting, fishing and gaming continues to be a big part of our heritage. But when young people get their hands on guns, bad things happen. This is an issue President Obama must get with if he wants to win a second term.
The latest incident took place in Chardon, Ohio, where a high school student opened fire, killing three, after he stole a 22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, which was legally purchased, from his uncle.
Or how about the 14-year-old kid from Detroit who riddled his mother with bullets while she slept after she refused to let him go outside and hang out with his friends?
Taking a hard look at our gun control laws is an issue that is long overdue. In the aftermath of the shooting that injured former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, along with the other nineteen other people killed or injured, nothing was done.
After the Tucson shooting, President Obama called for better background checks and that’s all.
In 2010, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave the President a report card of seven F’s for his handling of gun legislation.
In fact Obama, in just one year, signed into law more repeals of federal gun policies than his predecessor George W. Bush.
What Obama did do was reverse Reagan Era rules by allowing Americans to carry loaded guns in national parks and Amtrak trains.
Obama said it himself in an Op-Ed piece written in the Arizona Daily Star:
“In fact, my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners — it has expanded them, including allowing people to carry their guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.”
What’s weird is that many still think Obama is coming after their guns, which is furthest from the truth. Wayne LaPierre, leader of the National Rifle Association (NRA), said that:
“Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in American history. Obama is a committed anti-gunner and Obama endorsed a total ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of all handguns. He has a hidden agenda against the right to bear arms.”
Obama doesn’t have a hidden agenda when it comes to guns in America, the agenda is non-existent and if he wants four more years in the White House something has to change. When young people get their hands on guns, the outcome will always be grim.
Reversing old polices from the Reagan-era is not a solution, it’s bending to gun lobbyists who cling to their .9mm’s while clutching their bible tighter than ever.
