Time for Gun Safety Laws

The debate among Democratic presidential candidates the other night was both civil and informative, particularly when contrasted with the clangorous, uninformed Republican debate a few weeks before.

Republicans seem no longer able to articulate issues; they instead loudly affirm talking points and throw around misstatements as if they were flicking dust motes. These are candidates who appear woefully unqualified to guide the affairs of this country. And interestingly, it is the three leading candidates in the polls who are the most spectacularly unqualified: Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson (who has somehow managed to make Trump seem smart). Trump is a celebrity egotist, Fiorina a bullyish failure, and Carson the craziest of the three, a man whose astonishing lack of knowledge suggests a serious degree of intellectual impairment.

But back to the Democrats. Surprising during their debate was the new willingness to take on the gun control issue, which Democrats have generally avoided for fear of offending gun owners and their powerful lobby the NRA. This is good news, but to be effective at all, the Democrats must frame the discussion in a positive and accurate way.

My view is that the right way to approach gun issues is through the Second Amendment, which in spite of some confused Supreme Court decisions refer to armed militias, not individuals. That, however, isn’t going to happen before we experience hundreds of new mass shootings in this country. So the next best approach is to acknowledge the Second Amendment and focus on gun rights, or gun safety, and not gun control.

What that means is to plug the most basic and most obvious holes in our current laws. Let’s start by making it clear no one is attempting to take anyone’s guns away from them. That’s just a witless blast from the NRA propaganda machine. No, what we’re talking about universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole, making sellers more responsible. And yes, it also means stepping up guidelines for mental illnesses (are you listening, Ben Carson?).

Surveys show most Americans — over 85% — favor expanded background checks. This is something the NRA doesn’t mention. They prefer the fear-mongering accusations that Democrats want to take away weapons from legitimate gun owners. I think — hope — the gun owners will see through this sham. The NRA has gotten its destructive way too often, and now more people are recognizing this. Maybe the time is right for the Democrats’ push for increased gun rights laws.

And finally, to emphasize what a dangerous, thoughtless group the NRA really is, please read this statement from a member of their board, that people trying to get new gun safety laws passed believe “that people with guns are somehow connected to mass murders.” Really. Someone actually said that. And it wasn’t Ben Carson. It’s a callous, disrespectful lie. Those innocent victims were shot with guns. People with guns. It’s way past time time to stop this madness.