The shooting that took place yesterday morning in Alexandria is deeply saddening. House GOP Whip Steve Scalise is in critical condition and three others were injured when a shooter decided to attack a friendly charity baseball game practice between Republicans. No matter one’s political beliefs, this act of violence was clearly wrong, and while nobody is disputing that fact, there is much disparity in the reasoning. Former Congressman Bob Livingston (R-Louisiana) and many other GOP members, for instance, believe that this attack was caused by anti-Trump rhetoric stirring up the man’s emotional stability. The truth is, however, that the attack was caused by lack of gun control.
Generally, conservatives push for the right to bear arms. Many claim that in order to protect themselves from criminals with weapons, they too, must carry. When everyone has the right to own a gun, however, situations like yesterday occur. The people who needed protecting were not protected, and the person who caused the turmoil had access to a gun.
As NPR reported, the shooter voiced his politics frequently, but never in a demeaning, obnoxious or threatening way. On the other hand, he has multiple records that indicate that the man should not have been able to own a weapon. He was arrested for allegedly punching a woman and choking an individual, as well as firing a shotgun in 2006 and was referred to police after shooting his hunting rifle unsafely.
Clearly, the man’s political beliefs and anti-Trump rhetoric are not to blame for what happened. Trump did not become President until this year, and the shooter’s dangerous tendencies began in 2006, if not earlier. If the man had been referred to a psychologist and/or was mandated for further gun training as a result of his previous incidents, there is a good chance that the incident yesterday would not have happened.
Do not let the individual incident be a distraction from the overall problem. Gun control needs thorough addressing and every crime committed is just one more reason for doing so.
