FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: The problem is bigger than gun control

By VERNON ROBISON

Enough! Enough! Enough!
It was a word repeated over and over again in frustration throughout a primetime address to the American people given by President Joe Biden on Thursday night last week.

That sentiment is something that the entire nation is feeling – especially after the horrific events in Uvalde, Texas on May 24 where 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers were gunned down in cold blood.. No one is disputing that there is a serious problem in this nation: a problem of violence.

Yes, a big part of it is gun violence. We have seen that play out all too often in public places all across the country in recent years. “Single shooter incidents,” we have come to call them. And no one would argue with the President that we have seen enough of them.

Of course, to be fair, the violence in our country is not limited to gun incidents. It is a much more widespread problem than that. We have seen people weaponizing motor vehicles to injure and kill others. There have been numerous incidents involving explosives detonated in large crowds of people.

There are videos posted regularly on the internet depicting regular people getting angry about something trivial, quickly coming to blows and beating each other to a pulp in public. There is bloodshed between students in classrooms at school. Sometimes these violent acts even turn towards teachers. We have seen unnecessary police violence against citizens upon occasion. More frequently, though, there has been brutality against police officers. We have seen rioting, looting and mayhem in the streets of our cities.

We have even seen violent acts in the very seat of our republic at the U.S. Capitol building. The value of human life has become cheap in this country and there is a disturbing lack of love and respect of people toward their fellow man.

What happened two weeks ago in Uvalde was both tragic and horrendous. But it is only the most current and vivid tip of the iceberg of this ever-increasing pandemic of violence.

No one would argue with the President’s assertion that we have seen enough of these things. Everyone agrees that the time is far past to do something about it. We are all unified on that score. Now, if only we could lay off politics for a moment to get something done.

But Mr. Biden’s speech last week provided little hope of that. The President went from expressing concepts upon which we all agree to pronouncing political ultimatums designed to divide. He repeatedly blamed Republicans in Congress for refusing to act previous to now. Then he warned that, if legislators fail to act this time, voters should turn their “outrage” into a political weapon and make it the central issue in November’s midterm elections. Some olive branch!

If the President truly wants to solve this problem of violence, he will need to mobilize a unified nation. That time may be now. But no problems will be solved by sowing division, nor by being so obviously and politically self-serving.

This is no time to start checking off boxes on long-standing political wish lists. But that is the first place that Mr. Biden went: gnawing away at the old toxic bone of gun control. His emotionally-charged language on this divisive topic, and its accusatory tone towards 2nd Amendment advocates, seemed calculated to broaden the divide rather than bring people together.

To be sure, perhaps there are some new gun control measures that ought to be considered. The public seems open to this. For example, perhaps some precautions ought to be put in place to prevent mentally ill 18-year-olds from purchasing semi-automatic assault weapons without any checks or balances. But asserting that the end-game really ought to be a complete ban on all assault rifles and high capacity magazines, as the President did in the very next breath, just erodes that common ground before any foundation can be built.

Let’s face it: these same old, worn out gun control proposals only nip at the heels of the larger violence problem anyway. Yet Mr. Biden’s speech was heavy on gun control proposals. but positively anemic on anything else.

To be fair, the President made a nod toward beefing up mental health resources. But that was all pretty sketchy. He had clearly not thought through any details on it. Addressing the pitiful state of mental health in this country is essential if one really wants to solve this violence problem. Gun control is the easy, go-to political fix. To really address it we have to become unified as a nation in strengthening and supporting families to lift the millions of people – many of them young people – who are desperately hurting. Passing gun control measures will NEVER solve that problem.

In addition, Mr. Biden made no mention at all of closing the gaping security gap in our schools. He wrung his hands and talked about how elementary schools had become “killing fields.” But isn’t that fundamentally a security issue? It is not difficult to tighten security and keep people safe.

For example, everywhere the President goes he takes a battalion of armed guards with him. That makes him relatively secure and prevents attacks against him. Simple!

What’s more, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year on a strong military and on federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The officers of these organizations are authorized to use lethal weapons, when necessary, to ensure security to the American public. We supply that as a matter of course, without even batting an eye.

But every day, the parents of this country must send their children to school into “gun-free zones.” The “gun-free” designation is, no doubt, made with good intentions to keep kids safe. But how has that worked out for us? Not so well.

Our schools have a security problem, plain and simple. That problem is well known which makes our kids sitting ducks for all kinds of violence. This security gap can be addressed in multiple ways. it isn’t rocket science. But it won’t be addressed through “gun-free zones.”

The very idea is laughable. Such designations only tend to make the zone “gun-free” for the good guys. Bad guys obviously don’t pay much heed to them. In fact, they are drawn to them. Thus, the schools have become “killing fields.”

Unlike gun control proposals that take important security tools away from the good guys, providing real security at schools hits at the heart of the matter. Anyone truly interested in stopping violence at our schools must be willing to talk about it and work out the details. The President didn’t even mention it last week. What does that say about his intention to really solve the problem?

Mr. Biden was right in his speech. Enough is enough! This is a rare moment, when no one is arguing that point with him. It would be a shame to waste it.

But it can’t become political. It shouldn’t be about holding on to a majority in the Congress this year, or about keeping control of the White House in 2024. This is no time to pull out that same tired old political bucket list and try to tick off a few items for the base. We have had enough of that, too!

This is a real problem! At stake is the very freedom of the American people. Will we be able to go out in public – will young children be able to go to school – without fear of being randomly shot and killed? To retain that basic right amidst this pandemic of violence will take a unified and resolved nation. In short, we need real leadership that reaches out across party lines. Sadly, Mr. Biden’s speech last week didn’t exhibit much of that.