We can do better.
That is the message delivered Tuesday by President Barack Obama and echoed Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee. We can do better than allowing more than 30,000 gun deaths annually in the United States. For a nation that prides itself on being civilized, the amount of carnage perpetrated by those using guns is positively barbaric.
Sometimes it is a despondent person turning the weapon on themselves — which accounts for a majority of gun deaths in the United States. Sometimes it is the curious child who finds an unsecured gun in a dresser drawer. Sometimes it is the proverbial bad guy or unintentional shooting or domestic anger turned violent. Yet regardless of the genesis or the provocation, the truth is that we can do better. Failure to act upon a problem represents acceptance, and such complacency should no longer be tolerated by citizens.
Obama this week unveiled a series of executive actions designed to reduce gun violence. He hopes to narrow the gun-show loophole that allows the purchase of weapons at gun shows or online without background checks — a loophole that Washington residents wisely closed in 2014 by supporting a ballot measure with 60 percent of the vote. The president also announced the hiring of 230 FBI examiners to expedite the processing of background checks, and $500 million for mental health services to help prevent troubled people from turning to violence.
None of these is a panacea. None of these will halt gun violence. But the point is not to argue over what might have prevented the last shooting; it is to take steps to stop the next one or the one after that.
In that regard, Republicans in Congress have engaged in shameful do-nothing pandering. As Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker wrote: “What is less easily understood is the refusal of Republicans to take the reins of any given issue and do something constructive rather than invariably waiting to be forced into the ignoble position of ‘no.’ ”
Ignoble, indeed. Yet that was the reaction of Republicans on Tuesday. Presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Obama is “obsessed with undermining the Second Amendment,” which is a disingenuous misreading of the president’s actions. Fellow candidate Ted Cruz said, “We don’t beat the bad guys by taking away our guns; we beat the bad guys by using our guns.” Such an attitude has driven this country into a cavern of inescapable violence. Congress for years has prevented federal money from being used to study gun violence, preferring instead to embrace a philosophy that ignorance is bliss. And now the president’s critics have been quick to dismiss his proposals rather than offer their own solutions.
While the Second Amendment guarantees that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,” solutions are necessary. Yes, it is possible to protect individual constitutional rights while taking steps to reduce gun violence. Anything short of that is a moral and ethical failing, and it is a failing that has been accepted for far too long.
For his part, Inslee on Wednesday announced executive action that will focus on suicide prevention and, importantly, provide research into gun injuries and deaths in the state. Inslee’s plan will have critics, just as Obama’s has, and a robust discussion must be had. In addition, the constitutionality of using executive orders related to gun violence is a question that must be answered. But until those critics are able to offer alternative solutions, their complaints are morally vacuous.
The United States has a problem; we can do better.
