• Home
• /
• Opinion

Shoot down the law that makes guns legal in the US

The blame is already being spread around, from the president to other politicians. There is no dearth of expertise into reading the minds of the killers, and the sequence of events that led to the bloody nightsin El Paso and Dayton.

A society in crisis, communities in shock, a nation gripped by fear. There is simmering hatred, there is anguish and frustration that nothing has been done despite a wave of gun attacks carried out by civilians against innocents. The hate in American society runs deep, it is entrenched and is tearing a nation apart. The availability of guns for civilians is only giving vent to anger and resentment. It gives rise to vigilantes and maniacs as it betrays democracy and tramples its noble ideals. It feeds into societal insecurities and promotes cultural angst. Indeed, this gun culture in the United States is crushing the peaceful fabric of a great nation, the font of democracy and open trade. If you are angry against something or someone, you take it out by grabbing a weapon and firing at people on the street or at the mall to let the authorities know and to let your feelings show.
Such actions are called murder in broad daylight; it's called terrorism, and civil society has no place for such perpetrators of violence. But why do such incidents happen day after day, week after week; the numbers are rising with every passing year in the United States. It's been happening because people have easy access to guns in the land of the free and brave. If you are brave, you have the right to own a gun; if you are free, you can simply spray bullets at the pedestrian on the street, at moms and babies, young and old, rich and poor.
These are actions of cowards and losers, of cold-blooded killers and those who terrorise for the sake of terrorism. When the constitution of the United States makes it legal to possess guns, something is fundamentally wrong and society is rigged towards violence. The American people and their politicians know it yet feel powerless to do anything about it.
Two mass shootings in 24 hours is too much to bear, any shooting is. Twenty people killed in Texas and nine in Ohio in a night should send shivers down the spines of those with a conscience, of those who claim to uphold human rights and values, yet will not stand up to a wrong and flawed legislation that is past its expiry date.
The blame is already being spread around, from the president to other politicians. There is no dearth of expertise into reading the minds of the killers, and the sequence of events that led to the bloody nights in El Paso and Dayton.
The sound of gunfire still rings in the ears and blood is splattered on the ground.
There is mourning and weeping, of children who have lost their fathers, of moms who have lost their sons and daughters. Families have been broken and a nation's and world peace has been shattered by these twin incidents.
The right to bear arms is inscribed in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed," it reads - which is a recipe for disaster. It opens the state and its citizens to anarchy.
The National Rifle Association, the lobby that promotes the use of guns, must be banned with immediate effect. They have blood on their hands. The next step is to amend the constitution, to rid society of weapons and to de-weaponise minds. The third measure is to introduce a buyback scheme for guns. Easier said than done, but if politicians cannot bite the bullet on gun-control and introduce legislation, such massacres will go on to destroy the American dream for millions of families.
-allan@khaleejtimes.com