Guns: echo view from Indiana - now is past the time
Past time to get serious about gun violence
SOUTH BEND, IN- After the latest gun violence tragedy at Parkland, Fla., our nation and its leaders at all levels of government need to get serious, and immediately and effectively deal with the gun control and mental health issues that daily affect us all and rob too many families of their loved ones.
It is past time for the elected representatives in both houses of Congress to recognize that they are representatives of the entire nation and not just the parochial interests of their own districts/states.
When they swear an oath to support the Constitution they have more than just a duty to make sure that they get re-elected. They certainly have taken advantage of the decision in Citizens United (558 U.S. 310 (2010)) which grants corporations a right to make broad financial contributions to candidates.
If a representative or senator only has the goal of assuring their her own re-election then they act selfishly.
If our teachers, first responders, or military can take risks when called upon to provide protection, then Congress needs to be willing to do the same. They should take the risk of making decisions that might be unpopular to their financial backers or those clamoring for them to do otherwise.
It is past time for Congress to act in a bipartisan manner and:
1. Defeat any attempt that would allow the use of a concealed carry permit issued in one state to legally justify concealed carry in any other state.
2. Tighten up the ability to purchase lethal weapons by requiring detailed background checks and a waiting period even at so-called gun shows.
3. Outlaw the manufacture, sale and possession of so-called automatic rifles (AR-15-style rifles) and large magazines that have been used with the rifles in school and other mass casualty shootings our nation has lived through since Columbine.
4. Provide national funding for mental health services for all individuals younger than 25 by the imposition of a minimal federal tax assessed against everyone without exemption. I can say from personal experience over almost 40 years exercising jurisdiction over juvenile offenders in St. Joseph County, that Indiana is at best sub-substandard if not totally lacking in this area.
The growth of such mass shootings is a national problem so there should be an effective national response that requires the sharing the expense by all of us. The funds derived from the tax could be distributed to the states in the form of block grants that could allow for local variations within federal standards in how the mental health services are provided.
It is past time to realize that we need not worry about “prying” weapons from the cold dead hands of owners of automatic rifles or other easily obtainable weapons. They are neither dead nor cold, rather it is our children, teachers, first responders and the public at large, who have been killed, who fit that description every time another mass shooting tragedy occurs.
If a representative or senator only has the goal of assuring their her own re-election then they act selfishly.
If our teachers, first responders, or military can take risks when called upon to provide protection, then Congress needs to be willing to do the same. They should take the risk of making decisions that might be unpopular to their financial backers or those clamoring for them to do otherwise.
It is past time for Congress to act in a bipartisan manner and:
1. Defeat any attempt that would allow the use of a concealed carry permit issued in one state to legally justify concealed carry in any other state.
2. Tighten up the ability to purchase lethal weapons by requiring detailed background checks and a waiting period even at so-called gun shows.
3. Outlaw the manufacture, sale and possession of so-called automatic rifles (AR-15-style rifles) and large magazines that have been used with the rifles in school and other mass casualty shootings our nation has lived through since Columbine.
4. Provide national funding for mental health services for all individuals younger than 25 by the imposition of a minimal federal tax assessed against everyone without exemption. I can say from personal experience over almost 40 years exercising jurisdiction over juvenile offenders in St. Joseph County, that Indiana is at best sub-substandard if not totally lacking in this area.
The growth of such mass shootings is a national problem so there should be an effective national response that requires the sharing the expense by all of us. The funds derived from the tax could be distributed to the states in the form of block grants that could allow for local variations within federal standards in how the mental health services are provided.
It is past time to realize that we need not worry about “prying” weapons from the cold dead hands of owners of automatic rifles or other easily obtainable weapons. They are neither dead nor cold, rather it is our children, teachers, first responders and the public at large, who have been killed, who fit that description every time another mass shooting tragedy occurs.
Labels: Citizens United, Harold E. Brueseke, Parkland Florida, South Bend Tribune
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 10:09 AM
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