Firearms our No. 1 threat
THE LAS VEGAS Strip gun massacre is a dark reminder that the greatest threat to the American public now comes out of the barrel of a gun. If you look at the 10 deadliest acts of violence from the past decade, they all have one thing in common: They were all mass shootings. Not vehicle rammings. Not bombings. Not chemical or biological attacks. Gun rampages. Unfortunately, the problem continues to worsen every year. Examining trends in gun massacres — mass shootings that result in six or more victims dying — demonstrates that 2017 is now officially the deadliest year on record. President Trump has called the Las Vegas Strip massacre “an act of pure evil.” It was also senseless — and avoidable. It’s time for our leaders to seriously address ways to drastically reduce such tragic violence. The first step is to acknowledge that firearms can pose a serious risk to national security. We treat biological agents like the anthrax that claimed five lives in 2001 and improvised explosive devices like the pressure cooker bombs that killed three people at the 2013 Boston Marathon as “weapons of mass destruction.” Given that military-style rifles have killed far more in Aurora, Newtown, Orlando and now Las Vegas, is it really asking a lot to see them for the threat they are? The other major action that is required is for our elected officials to take a page right out of our own history and address mass shootings the exact same way the nation has addressed other grave threats in past: through increased regulation. Here are two questions to ponder: After the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, how many bombings have there been on American soil that have resulted in mass casualty levels (six or more dead)? Similarly, how many planes have been hijacked from American airports and turned into flying missiles since 9/11? The answer to both questions is zero. Why? Because after these two tragic events, the federal government imposed tight regulations on explosive precursor materials and on civilian air transportation. Legal restrictions have worked to keep our society safe from bombings and acts of air piracy — and they could have equal success in keeping scores of Americans from being cut down by a hail of bullets fired in a mass shooting. Klarevas is the author of “Rampage Nation: Securing America from Mass Shootings.” DESCRIBING THE Las Vegas mass shooting as an “act of pure evil,” President Trump on Monday avoided any mention of terrorism or rampant gun violence in his first address to the nation after the massacre.
“We are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief,” Trump said in the White House hours after the shooting that left 59 people dead at an outdoor concert. “It was an act of pure evil,” he added. “We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you.”
The bloodshed was the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11 and the deadliest act of domestic violence under Trump’s presidency. He took to Twitter before his address, writing, “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!”
Trump, as a candidate and President, had made a habit of rushing to judgment about the motivations for killers in attacks domestically and abroad.
After the recent mass shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Trump openly speculated that the killers were radical Muslims hours before authorities confirmed that. He tweeted hours after the Orlando shooting, “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!” Trump has not made the same accusations against white suspects in other shootings, and pointedly would not refer to the slaying of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Va., as domestic terrorism. This time, Trump made no overt mention of 64-year-old shooter Stephen Paddock, who fired at concertgoers with automatic weapons