In their ever predictable fashion, President Joe Biden, and Vice-President Kamala Harris took a disastrous event to push their gun control agenda. The unfortunate incident at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, resulted in three people losing their lives, amongst which was the alleged shooter, along with a number of injured victims. The duo’s response? More government intervention to curb gun violence, demonstrating their seemingly ingrained habit of resorting to government control as the answer to the problems facing our society.
Inevitably, Biden jumped into the fray, urging for Congress to take action on gun laws. His misguided stance reflects a lack of understanding of the root causes of such events. He expressed his condolences for the victims in Madison, calling for legislative action to control a situation that he deems as ‘unconscionable’. This knee-jerk reaction from the president ignores the complex factors at play, including mental health and social issues.
While the president’s statements were disconcerting, one cannot ignore the gross oversimplification by Biden, who sought to connect unrelated incidents from across the country in a misguided attempt to push his political agenda. From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, the president painted these events with a single brush – gun violence – disregarding the distinct and complex issues underlying each event.
Though each incident is quite tragic, Biden’s stance that we must not see such events as normal, while invoking the need for child safety, feels more like fear-mongering rhetoric rather than a call to address the fundamental issues causing these events. Of course, every child deserves to feel safe in their classroom, but Biden’s myopic vision sees only stricter gun laws as the solution, rather than addressing the deeper societal issues at hand.
In concert with the president, Vice President Kamala Harris also parroted similar stances, with a seemingly endless disappointment in recurring school shootings. Referring back to the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Harris chose to focus on the discussions around gun control but conveniently excluded the presence of other contributing factors. One cannot ignore the increased reports of mental health issues in recent years but such realities never find a place in Harris’s arguments.
Despite this, Harris continued on her misdirected appeal, citing an uninterrupted enhancement in gun safety over the past four years, and the formation of a ‘White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention’, as if these alone would stop the tragedies. Her limited perspective and narrow solutions make it clear that she lacks a more detailed understanding of the multifaceted issue at hand.
Harris’s further suggestions for stricter gun controls also show that she is not in tune with the American people. She urges for universal background checks, red flag laws, safe storage regulations, and bans on so-called assault weapons. All under the guise of commonsense steps, when in fact, they are simply veiled efforts aimed at restricting the rights of law-abiding Americans under the Second Amendment, all the while doing little to tackle the root causes.
Authorities identified the alleged shooter as Natalie Rupnow, a 15-year-old student at the school. The use of a 9 mm pistol brings into question the effectiveness of laws like the Gun Control Act that already prohibits people under the age of 18 from legally owning a firearm. Clearly, Biden and Harris’s proposed solutions are merely political rhetoric, as existing laws already failed to prevent this tragedy.
Wisconsin state law also echoes the same restrictions as the Gun Control Act. This further emphasizes how ineffective the existing restrictions have been in preventing such incidents from occurring. Rather than address deeper societal issues, Biden and Harris insist on restricting Second Amendment rights under the banner of safety and common sense.
What Biden and Harris fail to see is that implementing stricter laws on gun control will only restrict law-abiding citizens, leaving them vulnerable to those who deliberately defy the law. It is a deeply misguided stance to suggest that restrictions on the possession of firearms will ensure peace, when in reality, it will lead to a vulnerable society, ever at the mercy of criminal elements.
These tragic incidents should not be used as opportunities to push a partisan agenda. Not only does this betray a lack of sensitivity for the victims and their families, but it also dismisses the wider context of these events. We should be focusing on addressing mental health your issues, school security, and community support to improve public safety.
In conclusion, the rhetoric from Biden and Harris is more intent on advancing their political agenda than really understanding and addressing the root causes of these tragic incidents. Their proposed solutions revolve around putting further restrictions on Second Amendment rights, rather than tackling the complex issues behind these events.
Such tragedy should instigate effective, compassionate and complex discussions, not simplistic and political point-scoring. It is crucial to recognize that focusing solely on firearm laws does nothing to address the myriad factors that contribute to such horrific incidents. As a nation, we need to focus on mental health, community support, and effective prevention tactics, and not just attempt to throw laws at the problem.
In the end, the reactions from Biden and Harris as well as their ill-guided proposed policies, not only demonstrate a lack of true understanding of the complexities of the situation but also their clear intent to undermine the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, while disguising it all under the guise of ‘commonsense solutions’ and ‘safety measures’.