Another day, another mass shooting. This time it happened in a Boulder, CO grocery store. Go, media—do what you do best. Whip us all up into a gun-control, finger-pointing frenzy. Someone says white supremacist. What do you do? Run with it or verify first? You run with it like you mean it.

Why verify anything when you can push your preferred party’s narrative? The plan is to fire away with the intellectually lazy, ideology-driven lie—mass shooters are almost always gun-loving, Second Amendment-worshiping white supremacists.

After hours of hand wringing and keyboard jabbing, you learn the white supremacist is called Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. He’s from Syria and is a Muslim. Hold the presses. Retool the story to … got it. Shift the narrative to racism, but be careful—when it comes to a religion of peace, tread carefully, unless it’s Christianity.

Journalism is dead. Left-leaning writers and editors sacrificed it four years ago. Now they seem to consider it their duty to frame the news to fit ideological preferences—even if it means sacrificing any vestiges of objectivity left over after four years of resistance to Donald Trump.

Scattershots

Since the Boulder shooting, journalists, pundits and Twitter Leftists have been in full assault mode. According to them, the NRA has more blood on their hands. So does the GOP for resisting the necessary destruction of the Second Amendment. F your thoughts and prayers, you bigots—we need legislation, not God.

Newsflash: Ahmad is the murderer, not the NRA or GOP or white Americans who own guns. We’re all outraged, hurting and saddened by yet another tragic mass shooting. Claiming the moral high ground and blaming the other side is reactionary, thoughtless and despicable.

Assault weapons bans, gun-free zones, closing loopholes in background checks—it’s all on the table. Chipping away at the Second Amendment is the plan. By the way, does anyone seriously think armed criminals care one whit about gun-free zones? The truth is that gun-free zones put people in danger and empower criminals. Why? Because guns aren’t evil—people are.

Misfires

Let’s talk about assault rifles—or more accurately, semiautomatic rifles that fire one round per trigger pull (just like handguns). I can see how shooting one would be fun at the range. And I once preferred that citizens not match firepower with law enforcement or the National Guard. But now that our military leaders and guardsmen are being used by the party in power, a well-armed citizenry may be necessary to prevent tyranny.

Let’s get real—guns are not the problem. They don’t run down the street shooting people. They’re designed to be used by good people to protect other good people. Should we limit their use? Absolutely. Here’s how:

Let’s make it more dangerous for criminals to use them and less difficult for law-abiding citizens to keep them. Consider Texas. It’s easier for Texans to buy and use guns than for Californians to do so. Which state has a gun control problem? In the Good Ol’ Days when commonsense gun ownership and respect for the Second Amendment prevailed, mass shootings were exceedingly rare. What changed?

We changed. Our culture changed. Our laws changed. Expectations of personal responsibility and accountability were co-opted by nanny-state policies. Do we really think more gun control is the answer? For decades we had little or no gun control and yet suffered a tiny fraction of the gun violence that now plagues our nation. How will more gun control address the root causes of our violence problem?

Implosion

Sadly, the problem is within us; it’s within our devolving culture. For example, one side vilifies law enforcement. How can making their jobs to protect and serve us more difficult help curb violence in our streets? We’re all outraged and fed up with the senseless slaughter. Let’s solve the problem together.

No more grandstanding, blame-gaming, finger-pointing and moral high grounding. People are dying. We must do something to stop the slaughter. On that, there’s no disagreement. We simply disagree on how best to do it.

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this article. Please take a minute to share them in the comment section by clicking here. Or carry the conversation over on your favorite social network by clicking one of the share buttons below.

 
 
 

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.