4 Days Left in Obama's Presidency

Memory 7: President Obama's call for action on gun violence prevention. 

We have witnessed on television and social media feeds the countless videos and images of innocent people having their lives taken by senseless acts of gun violence. Within almost a decade, the rise of social media has brought to light many issues that our country has chosen to ignore. This memory highlights the epidemic of gun violence, and President Obama’s willingness to speak out against its wrath.  

The Obama Administration grew tired of waiting for Congress to act. Congress’ legislative duty was to find solutions that not only protect the rights of people to bear arms but also protect the public from those arms. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled House and Senate failed this duty. President Obama was unwilling to sit idly by and watch misguided Second Amendment sentiments continue to eliminate opportunities for enacting common sense gun safety measures.

President Obama had the most visceral reaction to the massacre that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. At Sandy Hook, 20 first grade students and six staff members (including the principal and school psychologist) were killed. This tragedy initially shocked our entire nation. But after a few weeks, it was business as usual. In fact, gun sales rose exponentially following the Sandy Hook massacre. 

But prior to Sandy Hook, there had been over a dozen killed and critically injured after being shot by inside an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. There was also a shooting inside a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that left four wounded and six dead. These are only a few of the mass shootings to wreak havoc on our freedom. The following list itemizes a FEW other high-profile mass casualty shootings in the United States:

1.      Columbine
2.     Virginia Tech
3.     Binghamton
4.     Fort Hood (first shooting)
5.     Tucson, Arizona congressional event shooting
6.     Aurora movie theater  
7.      Wisconsin Sikh temple
8.      Sandy Hook Elementary
9.      Navy Yard
10.    Fort Hood (second shooting)
11.     Kansas Jewish Community Center
12.    Charleston Church - Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
13.    Chattanooga recruiting center
14.    Roseburg community college
15.    San Bernardino community center
16.    Kalamazoo Uber driver
17.    Orlando night club
18.    Dallas Police shooting
19.    Ft. Lauderdale airport
20.    …some have been listed and the list will continue without taking action to prevent the sale of guns to individuals who threaten peace in our communities.

Due to lack of support and unwillingness of the Republican Party to agree on passing universal background checks, overturning the law that prevents gun violence research by the CDC, adopting legislation that prevents people on the No-Fly List from purchasing a gun, placing a limit on magazine capacity, etc., the tragedies shall continue in perpetuity.

Observe how President Obama and Vice President Biden took on the issue of gun safety after the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings. On January 16, 2013, after meeting with activists, organizations and gun tragedy victims, Biden drafted a policy proposal and submitted it to Obama. The Biden proposal established a plan to combat gun violence, titled “Now Is The Time.”

If you’d like to learn more about gun violence tragedies in the U.S., you can access the data collected by Mother Jones here.