A recent editorial in the CK Reporter posed the question; “When is enough, enough?” Sadly, whether due to a political agenda, laziness or just sheer ignorance, the editorial badly misrepresented the facts in the debate on crimes committed with guns.
The number of killings using guns dropped 39 percent between 1993 and 2011. Crimes committed with guns that weren’t fatal fell by 69 percent (www.articles.latimes.com/2013/may/07/nation/la-na-nn-gun-crimes-pew-report-20130507).
Mass shootings, such as those that occurred at the DC Navy yard or in Newtown, garner intense media attention but statistically account for few (less than 1/10 of 1 percent) of the total murders reported nationwide (www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/mass-shootings-fuel-fear-account-for-fraction-of-murders.html).
The President and the Democrats in Congress have used these horrific crimes to demagogue the issue for their own political goals. By the administration’s own admission, (www.firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/31/16794835-biden-new-gun-controls-likely-wont-end-shootings?lite), nothing in their proposals, from criminalizing private firearms transfers between law abiding citizens to placing limits on the capacity of magazines, would have stopped the recent mass shootings.
In the meantime, proposals such as those promoted by the NRA and the NSSF that would have prevented these crimes have been ignored (www.fixnics.org, & www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/us/politics/mental-health-again-an-issue-in-gun-debate.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ).
Ask yourself, why would a president who is so focused on gun control largely ignore the gang violence in places like Chicago or New Orleans (www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/15/new-orleans-shooting-not-national-news)?
Could it be because it doesn’t fit his political narrative? It is the president not the NRA who has blocked real solutions to crimes committed with guns.
Enough IS enough! It’s time to tell the president and his allies in Congress to stop using these horrible crimes, committed by mentally ill individuals, to further their own extremist political agenda.
It’s also time to tell our news media (who are supposed to be the guardians of the truth) to stop parroting political figures they just happen to agree with and to start reporting the facts!
Charles Ely
Bremerton
