We still need to talk about guns

Gun control was one of the country’s biggest political debates after the mass shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conn.  

But in the nine months that have passed since the tragedy at Sandy Hook, we haven’t seen any new federal gun control legislation.

Despite more Americans favoring stricter gun control in the aftermath of Sandy Hook than they had in the last decade, nothing was done to reassess gun control.

Now, I’m not saying the heartbreaking events at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. are a direct result of Congress and the executive branch failing to enact stricter gun laws.

There are many parties to blame.

A mental health system in need of reevaluation is to blame. The never-ending bipartisan political game is to blame. But, most important, the American people are to blame.

We can’t just spark the gun control debate whenever someone else decides to massacre a bunch of innocent people with a firearm.

In the last decade, the most support for stricter gun control was seen after the shootings at Columbine and Sandy Hook. It’s as if we don’t care about people having
guns until someone uses one in a school.

We can’t let this become the norm. We can’t just care about guns when it’s topical and in the light of a recent tragedy.

Especially when the shooting at the Navy Yard hardly gained the news traction that the Aurora or Sandy Hook shootings did.

Bringing up the Navy Yard shootings in conversation all day returned me nothing but puzzled looks and ignorant pauses. People didn’t hear about this story. They had no idea what had happened.

But why should people care anymore? It isn’t as if they would be surprised.

This shooting is just the latest in a slew of mass shootings that seem to crop up every few months. At this point, I can’t help but wonder if we’re finally desensitized to the massacre of innocent lives via firearms.

How else could we ignore that since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary about 24,580 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.

That comes to about 91 people every day since Dec. 14, 2012.

I don’t believe in banning guns outright. Those people who want guns will get guns and use them, just as people who want drugs will acquire them despite their illegality.

But something can be done about controlling guns. It just won’t get done if we allow ourselves to become numb to yet another shooting.

We still need to talk about guns in this country, and you should be ready to join in on the conversation.

­— wdmcdona@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.