First, it is pretty clear to me that nothing since the event that has been proposed to add to our control of guns in this country would have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy. And the proponents of additional controls are missing a critical point, as recently noted in an essay by constitutional attorneys David Rifkin and Andrew Grossman: “After the Supreme Court decisions in Heller vs. District of Columbia and its follow-on case, McDonald vs. Chicago, which applied the Second Amendment rights to the states, what government cannot do is deny the individual interest in self-defense. As a legal matter, that debate is “settled.” The government cannot abridge these rights out of an emotional reaction to a tragic event to make a symbolic point or in an attempt to “do something”.
I have previously written that it is the reversal of the misguided policy of de-institutionalizing the mentally ill over the past 40 years that seems to have the most promise in reducing gun violence, and let’s not forget the accountability to which Hollywood should be held for its movies and video game products that dignify and often glorify gun violence and warp the minds of many vulnerable young patrons. Rather than demonizing the NRA, isn’t it time to try something that might really work?
