We believe it is safe to say that the outrage and grief associated with the senseless slaughter of elementary school teachers and children in Uvalde, TX, has deeply touched all Americans. Of course, this isn't the first mass school shooting event, just the latest. Each time a mass shooting incident occurs, politicians offer their "thoughts and prayers" to the family of the victims but are hesitant to tighten our gun control laws. This time, after the horrific massacre in Uvalde, it is our hope that Democrats and Republicans will finally come together to pass new, commonsense gun control laws. To paraphrase the saying, evil prevails when good people do nothing. After Uvalde, it is incumbent upon our lawmakers to finally take action. Specifically, in addition to existing laws, we urge lawmakers to raise the legal age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 and prohibit the sale of military-style assault weapons to the general public. Believe it or not, you can support the U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment (the right of people to keep and bear arms) and still ban the sale of certain military-style assault weapons, to include AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines, to the general public. In 1994, President Bill Clinton actually signed an assault weapon ban but, unfortunately, that ban expired in 2004. Anyway, most reasonable people would agree a shotgun, handgun, or standard rifle (bolt or lever action) are more than sufficient for normal self-defense and hunting purposes. The average American has no legitimate need for an AR-15 assault rifle, flame-thrower, bazooka, or any other military-style weapon in their everyday life. We believe most citizens, including police organizations across America, would support these new gun control laws. Frankly, a police officer's handgun is no match against an AR-15 assault rifle.
In addition to these changes, more must obviously be done to harden our schools and protect our children. To that end, we support restrictive entry/exit points, adding more cameras, more random backpack and locker checks, and, yes, training and arming teachers who are willing to carry a concealed firearm. When it comes to our children's (and teacher's) lives, we support all reasonable options to help keep them safe.
For more on the school shooting in Uvalde and other relevant information, please click on the links below:
UPDATE 6/26/22: Yesterday, President Joe Biden signed the new, bipartisan gun control bill into law. While it doesn't go nearly far enough, it is a start. On the positive side, the new law enhances background checks, facilitates red flag confiscation laws, and provides more funding for mental health care. Still, to help prevent mass shootings, we will continue to urge lawmakers to (1) raise the age to purchase a firearm to 21, (2) ban the sale of assault-style rifles (AR-15, etc.), and (3) ban the sale of high-capacity magazines.
For the details on the new law, please click on the media links below:
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