Editorial: The Terror of Fire Arms
It is not a coincidence that Alabama, the state where John Russel Houser is resident, and Louisiana, have the more lenient gun laws in the country.
Crédito: J. Emilio Flores | La Opinión
SPANISH VERSION
Nowadays, to be able to safely go to the movies we will have to pass a metal detector, like in the airports. Or maybe we should allow the audience to be armed in case a deranged person wants to perpetrate a massacre, so there can be a multiple shooting in the darkness of the theater. Those alternatives might sound ludicrous but are very real, because if common sense on guns does not prevail, we will have to sacrifice rationality in order to protect the public.
The shooting at a Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater once again repeated the tragic scene of an armed, mentally disabled person who commits a massacre in a public place. It is not a coincidence that Alabama, the state where John Russel Houser is resident, and Louisiana, have the more lenient gun laws in the country.
The repeated incidents of armed individuals who become “lone killers,” for whatever motives, are the biggest cause of homicides. This is terrorism, because it threatens the sense of security of innocent people. USA Today estimates that, between 2006 and today, there were 200 massacres. That is one almost every two weeks, and the figures are increasing. In 2011, 32,251 people died of gunshots, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Those incredibly high numbers should sound an alarm bell for Congress to review the easy access to fire guns. However, it’s just the opposite: Those who control the legislative agenda only repeat the National Rifle Association mantra that more arms are needed, as if the Wild West was the model for public safety in the 21 Century. Now the U.S. House wants to protect gun possession for retirees who cannot manage their own financial affairs.
The Republican majority gets fired up to approve laws when an undocumented man kills a person, but does nothing about guns, as if that victim’s life was more valuable than that of those killed at the Colorado movie theater, the South Carolina church, the Louisiana movie theater… or those who will die in the next incident.
It is true that it is people, not guns, who kill. But more control also means less killing power. There is no doubt about that.
