Indianz.Com > News > Albert Bender: We are tired of ‘thoughts and prayers’ when it comes to gun violence

Politicians who do nothing to stop mass shootings are themselves monsters
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
People's World
The Texas massacre of 19 elementary school children and two teachers on the eve of their next-to-last day of school brings forth unspeakable, unimaginable sadness and infuriating anger. It is hard to conceive the tremendous never-ending hurt felt by the families of those who lost their lives. Again, memories of Sandy Hook emerge.
Many of the children were shot up so badly that DNA identification was required. This writer had no idea of the tremendous damage an AR-15 does to a human body until recently seeing the news program 60 Minutes exposé of this terrible weapon, the sale of which should be immediately banned.
The U.S. government is in a state of “moral paralysis” on the recurrence of mass shootings. Congress is in a state of inaction. The entire world is dumbfounded as it watches massacre after massacre continue unabated in the United States.
In the wake of this latest horrific tragedy, there are the usual prosaic statements evinced by those in the media and in other pulpits of attention and power. But many in the country are tired of “thoughts and prayers,” “moments of silence,” and profuse condolences.
But I will say I was moved by the terse but poignant comments of President Joe Biden. In his seven-minute address to the nation, he touched on at least two compelling points. These included standing up to the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby and the banning of assault rifles.
The young man who committed these abominable killings purchased an AR-15 assault rifle on May 17, one day after he turned 18. On May 18, he bought 375 rounds of ammunition, and on May 20, he bought another rifle. This is unacceptable, as no 18-year-old should be allowed to purchase an assault rifle. 18-year-olds can neither buy alcohol nor handguns, but they can purchase AR-15 assault rifles with no questions asked?
As for standing up to the NRA, it’s an issue of the lobby-bought representatives doing the bidding of this heinous organization for money. The representatives and senators opposed to gun reform are already bought and paid for. The NRA puts out millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Republican representatives.
The following are measures that should be implemented post haste:
- The banning of the sale of assault rifles, this is foremost.
- The banning of high capacity magazines, ghost guns, and bump stocks.
- The banning of body armor.
- The banning of gun sales to 18-year-olds.
- The expansion and strengthening of background checks.
Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter for Native and Non-Native publications. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues and a former staff attorney with Legal Services of Eastern Oklahoma (LSEO) in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on People's World. It is published under a Creative Commons license.
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