Gun Control is the Issue, Not Terrorists

While House Democrats united to protest the lack of effort to bring about gun rights reform, the rest of Washington has decided to stick with the terrorist angle of the mass-shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Not surprising that Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has resorted to blaming the entire violent act on ISIL and Islam, but for his Democratic opponent Secretary Hillary Clinton to take the bait is a bit astounding.

Sure it's basic politics to respond to your opponent during a presidential election campaign, but it is time for the Clinton camp to learn that not everything Trump says needs to be refuted publicly. Leave that for Jake Tapper and the Washington Post. If Clinton wants to appeal to more voters, keeping the focus on gun control laws is the better route to take. Most on the left rightfully blame this attack as a gun control problem, not a terrorist threat.

Clinton has given necessary attention to the issue of lax gun regulations and needing to reinstate a ban on assault rifles, but still her campaign statement primarily focused on the terrorist element of the attack. She has since become embroiled in the issue of how culpable ISIL is for this lone-wolf attack, and what type of punishment should be given. She has even declared support for increase in Patriot Act style surveillance to monitor online activity of potential radicalized extremists. These tactics have not worked before, what makes the Clinton campaign believe it’ll be any different this time around?

President Obama is also worried about the conversation veering away from gun control, fearing an “either/or” dichotomy while preferring a “both/and” discourse. Unfortunately, this perspective conflates the two issues while simultaneously stressing the importance of keeping weapons out of the hands of terrorists. That has been the major point Clinton has been hitting at recently, being questioned or labeled as a terrorist must immediately lead to a complete ban on buying firearms. How will this stop the next Adam Lanza or Dylann Roof attack, when their white faces will hardly ever cross the NSA or FBI’s surveillance?

There is no doubt that Clinton and Obama are serious when proposing new restrictions and laws overseeing the sale of firearms, including strengthening background checks or restricting domestic violence offenders from obtaining weapons. But if we allow Trump and other conservatives to control the discussion of the attack to focus solely on terrorists thousands of miles away from Orlando and the rest of America, there will be no meaningful change to gun laws.