DailyPost 408
GUN DEMOCRACY
It’s a general democratic presumption that democratic freedom & lax gun laws are antithetical to each other. US certainly stands out as an exception. Close on the heels of largest mass killing in modern American history in Las Vegas last month, the recent Texas shooting of 26 persons in a Church is sufficient enough to chill anybody’s spine. The saga mass shootings in the US does not end. Condemnation followed mass shoot out is the cycle.
In the present incident President Trump has talked about the mental health of the shooter. What defence? Does any country have the wherewithal to keep track of the mental health of each of its citizen on a daily basis. Mental health can go for a toss even for the most stable people, as experienced by each one of us the world over. The ease at which you can lay the hand on a semi / automatic weapon is the challenge that ought to be sorted out. Mental health as an issue is not unique to the Americans but this response with alarming regularity is found only in the US. There is nothing wrong in accepting better models of gun control by the US.
Laws are made for our well being and orderly conduct of societies & nations. No law is above human life & liberty. Laws change with the experience with the law & that is the evolution expected in law. The Second Amendment ot the US constitution is cited after every mass killing. Using it condone mass killings is not the way forward. The reasonable restrictions to the law has not been complied in word & spirit. It would be an humongous exercise to be complied with. In the instant case, the shooters background remained unrecorded.
An legal experiment ought to happen to see what legal changes needs to be brought about & its impact objectively evaluated. Then a final call can be taken. Gun lobby has an axe to grind. The diehard votaries of democratic rights & 2nd Amendment will cry hoarse. Human life is supreme. America needs a new gun law desperately before another mass killing happens.
DEMOCRATIC RIGHT CANNOT TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER HUMAN LIFE.
Sanjay Sahay