John Carroll

Every time there is a mass shooting somewhere, President Obama goes on TV to reassure us that “that’s not who we are”. I think he’s wrong. This is exactly who we are, or at least are in the process of becoming. It would be simplistic to lay the blame at Trump’s feet, and certainly he has some responsibility for the uptick in shootings because his racist remarks have made it acceptable for people to openly express the racist feelings they secretly harbored, but were ashamed to express publicly.

I think the problem runs deeper than that. I think the problem is that we are a country that, despite overwhelming support for gun control, is held hostage by the NRA. I keep hoping that each shooting rampage will bring us closer to standing up to them, but now that police are being shot and killed on an almost daily basis, I think there’s an opportunity to pass some serious restrictions. It must be discouraging for the Black Lives Matter movement to see that after years of African Americans being stopped for driving while black, being beaten, shot and killed by the police with impunity, that it takes a number of murders of policemen to reveal what many Americans have believed for a long time, that Police Lives Matter more.

I don’t condone murder, whether it involves a person of color or a policeman, but I understand how people of color who feel abused by the very people who should be protecting them would be willing to use guns to protect themselves. The problem is I also understand that police who feel threatened for their lives will be quick to draw guns and use them. It’s a problem that will only lead to more death and anger on both sides. There’s an old saying that goes, “If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail.”

In my opinion, the solution is to provide both parties with more tools, beginning with getting rid of the guns that are currently being used as tools.

I think this will be almost impossible to achieve without both parties standing up to the NRA. It would be difficult but not impossible to do this.

The NRA has failed to prevent an assault weapons ban in the past, although they were able to limit the time it was in effect. Their arguments against banning them are totally specious, going far beyond the original intent of the Second Amendment, but their ability to cow Congress is impressive. All it takes is a threat by the NRA to withdraw support and funding and Congress capitulates. Assault weapons are a scourge useful only for killing. I have never seen a hunter carry one of them. Why shoot an animal when the bullets will destroy all of its meat? An armed citizen in a nightclub would be helpless against a shooter with an automatic weapon set on full fire. We need to prevent these massacres, both of police and innocent bystanders, and I think the best way is a total ban on assault weapons.

Maybe this time Congress will show some backbone and pass a permanent ban on them.

Community Columnist John Carroll is retired from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.