“We know that we can’t stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one?”
On January 5, 2016, President Barack Obama released a plan to the nation on the steps the administration is taking to #StopGunViolence.
Speaking from the East Room of the White House, President Obama outlined the steps he believes are necessary to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer. In the audience was Gabby Giffords, who was a member of Congress when she and 18 others were shot at a market in Tucson, Arizona. She sat alongside survivors, and families of survivors, as the President and audience members wept as he discussed that there is “a lot of resilience, there’s a lot of strength, but there’s also a lot of pain” in this room today.
He went on to highlight that “we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesn’t happen in other advanced countries. And as I’ve said before, somehow we’ve become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal. And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates. People are dying. And the constant excuses for inaction no longer suffice. That’s why we’re here today. Not to debate the last mass shooting, but to do something to try to prevent the next one.” In these words, President Obama expressed a call to action to #StopGunViolence. For his administration to take action. For Congress to take action. For America to take action.
The President early on in his speech wanted to emphasize for the American people that he “believes in the Second Amendment. It guarantees a right to bear arms. I taught constitutional law, I know a little about this. But I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment.” And, he compared the reforms he is proposing to similar limitation in place regarding the First Amendment, which is a “guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can’t yell “fire” in a theater. We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people. We cherish our right to privacy, but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane.”
President Obama went on to make this very critical point that we have to find a way to balance our Second Amendment rights, because currently the protection of our Second Amendment rights is undermining our other rights as citizens! “Because our right to worship freely and safely — that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied Jews in Kansas City. And that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too. Our right to peaceful assembly — that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun.” And, this is what I think is critical. That America is that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora and Lafayette. Rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun.” And, this is what I think is critical. That America is over-looking that without a modification to the Second Amendment we are undermining our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
President Obama shared that “in the past decade, more than 100,000 people have died as a result of gun violence” and Congress has repeatedly failed to take action toward reform. This week, the White House issued a press statement outlining “Gun Violence in America: By the Numbers” More than 4 million Americans were victims of assaults, robberies, and other crimes involving a gun in the last decade; more that 30,000 gun deaths in America each year; 20,000 children under 18 killed by firearms over the last decade. People are dying, and something must be done to #StopGunViolence.
And so he went on to “outline what we’re going to be doing in the war to #StopGunViolence. In the press statement issued by the White House today in junction with the President’s statements, White House official Tanya Somander shares more specifically that the four-pronged approach President Obama is proposing to make America safer through gun reform:
First, “Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making in unequivocal that to get a gun you must have a license and go through a background check. ATF is finalizing a rule to require background checks for people trying to buy some of the most dangerous weapons and other items through a trust, corporation, or other legal entity. As well, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has sent a letter to states highlighting the importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental illness, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence. Finally, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is overhauling the background check system to make it more effective and efficient. The envisioned improvements include processing background checks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and improving notification of local authorities when certain prohibited persons unlawfully attempt to buy a gun. States highlighting the importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal dispositions, information on persons disqualified because of a mental illness, and qualifying crimes of domestic violence.
Second, “make our communities safer from gun violence.” The President’s FY2017 budget will include funding for 200 new ATF agents and investigators to help enforce our gun laws. As well, ATF has established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal online firearms trafficking and is dedicating $4 million and additional personnel to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network; ATF is finalizing a rule to ensure that dealers who ship firearms notify law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit.
Third, “increase mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system.” The Administration is proposing a new $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care. Furthermore, the Social Security Administration has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for mental health reasons. As well, the Department of Health and Human Services is finalizing a rule to remove unnecessary legal barriers preventing States from reporting relevant information about people prohibited from possessing a gun for specific mental health reasons.
Fourth, and finally “shape the future of gun safety technology.” The President has directed the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security to conduct research into gun safety technology. “We need to develop new technologies that make guns safer. If we can set it up so you can’t unlock your phone unless you’ve got the right fingerprint, why can’t we do the same thing for our guns? If there’s an app that can help us find a missing tablet there’s no reason we can’t do it with a stolen gun. If a child can’t open a bottle of aspirin, we should make sure that they can’t pull a trigger on a gun.”
In closing his speech today, President Obama urged that the steps the administration is taking to #StopGunViolence must be supported by action on the part of Congress! The plan he is putting in place is a safeguard “until we have a Congress that’s in line with the majority of Americans, there are actions within my legal authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives .”
He urges each of us American citizens to “demand a Congress brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby’s lies. All of us need to stand up and protect its citizens. All of us need to demand governors and legislatures and businesses do their part to make our communities safer.” So, stand up America. In honor of Fort Hood. Tuscon. Binghamton. Aurora. Oak Creek. Newtown. The Navy Yard. Santa Barbara. Charleston. San Bernardino, stand up as Americans, and #StopGunViolence
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