We Are Better Than This

by: Julia Cheung

Following the initial shock of the Aurora shootings – as is often the case – political outrage ensues. But like most nationally publicized shootings, as outraged and emotional the debate gets – as much as one party believes now more than ever, gun possession needs to be banned/protected and accuses the other party of promoting a liberal/conservative agenda, it’s often the  politicians in power who remain inactive on the issue.

But as Dan Gross pointed out this week on The Colbert Report- “This is a nonpartisan issue.” Gross – president of the Brady Campaign – believes that more can be done to save lives, and it should be in the interests of all politicians, regardless of their politics. Gun sales, he believes, should be more heavily regulated, which is not to say his aim is to strip away gun rights. Rather, there needs to be reform. At the aptly named site, wearebetterthanthis.org, Gross has started a petition to instate  regulations on gun sales, which would include a ban on assault weapons and extend background checks to all gun sales rather than just 60 percent.

And it’s not just the tragedies like Aurora which should raise the question of whether or not we need to be more cautious with gun sales, says Gross; it’s also the fact that on that very same day, more than twice the people killed in Aurora were killed around the nation, and that this is something that happens everyday. As Colbert sarcastically quipped, “If a tree gets shot in the woods, and let’s say it was a very dark chestnut, and the press decides not to cover that particular tragedy, is the crisis ongoing, or only when it is something that is so horrific and assaulting like this?”

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