Once again, we turned our TVs and radios on or saw on the internet that there had been yet another mass shooting. This time at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. It was not too long ago when we heard about another tragedy--that time at an Elementary School in Sandy Hook.
When Sandy Hook occurred, there were calls for the U.S. Congress to enact reasonable regulations on guns with the hope that these regulations would prevent some additional mass shootings. And for a while it seemed like there might be a chance that something might actually be done. But once again, the NRA with its army of lobbyists convinced the U.S. Congress to once again do nothing.
And now we have dead and wounded in the Navy Yard.
USA Today is reporting:
A federal law enforcement official said Monday that Alexis . . . legally purchased at least some of the weapons used in the assault within the past few days in Virginia.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
Alexis was able to legally purchase this weapon even though he previously discharged a firearm in his apartment.
In September 2010, police were called to Apartment 2023 after Alexis’s downstairs neighbor complained that he had fired a bullet through his floor and through her ceiling. . . . The woman said that “she is terrified of Aaron and feels that this was done intentionally,” the police report said.
Police tried three times to contact Alexis by knocking on his apartment door, but he didn’t respond. Only after they called in firefighters to force entry did he emerge. Alexis told police that he had been cleaning his gun while he was cooking. He said that he accidentally discharged the weapon because his hands were greasy, according to the police report.. . .
Alexis was arrested in connection with improper discharge of a firearm, but the county district attorney’s office said Monday that there was not enough evidence to pursue the case, so no charges were brought.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/....
While I cannot state with absolute certainty that reasonable gun regulations would have made this particular shooting avoidable, I do think that reasonable gun regulations would have made it less likely that the Navy Yard shooting would have occurred.
And when you balance the rights of the gun owners against the rights of the innocent victims at the Navy Yard, it seems that the scale should tip in favor of the victims and the public at large rather than the gun owners. And by not doing anything to curb gun violence, the U.S. Congress has failed in its responsibility to the American People.
According to The Washington Post, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has called out the U.S. Congress for its failure to Act. In her statement, Senator Feinstein stated:
. . . “There are reports the killer was armed with an AR-15, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol when he stormed an American military installation in the nation’s capital and took at least 12 innocent lives.
“This is one more event to add to the litany of massacres that occur when a deranged person or grievance killer is able to obtain multiple weapons—including a military-style assault rifle—and kill many people in a short amount of time.
“When will enough be enough?
“Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/... (6:27 p.m. entry)
I say that there has already been too much bloodshed due to Congress' failure to enact reasonable gun legislation. And for this the U.S. Congress owes an apology to the victims of the Navy Yard Shooting.