How Far We've Come--But a Long Road Ahead

A year ago, many of us were tuned in to watch and hear of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  I, like many others, went through a spectrum of emotions, from shock, to sadness, to outrage.  It got to the point that my Dad actually asked me to tone it down on Facebook. 

To me Newtown was, to many, the last straw in a series of shootings that may have started in Tuscon, Arizona with the shooting of United States Representative Gaby Giffords.  There were more mass shooting to follow; Fort Hood, Aurora, Wisconsin, Washington.  The murder-suicide of a Kansas City Chiefs player brought the role that the culture of guns may play in professional sports.  The shooting of Trayvon Martin brought the 'Stand Your Ground' laws into focus. 

Since Newtown, we have seen more of the same; the Washington Navy Yard, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago, and just yesterday, again, Littleton, Colorado.

What we have also seen is people saying, 'enough'.  Groups old, like the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and new, like Moms Demand Action, have taken a stand against the National Rifle Association and other groups who seem to think that the solution to gun violence, is more guns.  Likley as a way to ensure sales for the manufacturers that back the NRA, etc.  The insurgent rhetoric from many groups that claim to represent law-abding Americans may have only strengthened the position of groups that advocate for the goverment exercising its constitutional right to regulate the militia.  We have seen voices emerge on the side of "gunsense"; Piers Morgan, Al Sharpton, Melissa Harris-Perry, etc.

What we have not seen, is large-scale legislation.  Efforts to pass background checks and limits on magazines at a national level were blocked by the NRA's Congressional allies.  In Colorado, the NRA, managed to successfully recall two State Senators who supported gun safety legislation.  That recall may have been behind California Governor Jerry Brown vetoing an assault weapons band.

So where do we go form here.  We have an election in 2014 and this could be a chance to defeat the NRA, making passing background checks, magazine limits, etc issues for candidates.   Once candidates willing to back common-sense legislation are found, we need to back them; phone banking, canvassing, etc.

Also, we need to focus on the structural changes that may be impeding reform.  Changes to the filibuster that allowed a few Senators to deny the majority of Americans their voice, and reforms to limit the power of gun manufacturers and corporate groups like ALEC to influence Congress.

Newtown was not the last straw, as yesterdays events show.  But perhaps it was a beginning, as the late Nelson Mandela said;  "It's only impossible until you do it!"