NRA gives lawmakers blessing to act
Tennessee and federal lawmakers, you now have permission from the NRA to do something about mass killings.
No more hemming and hawing, no more endless supply of thoughts and prayers, and no more inaction in the midst of what must be called terrorist attacks at schools, universities and now a Waffle House in Southeast Nashville.
After the shooting at a Waffle House in Antioch on Sunday, the Second Amendment-defending group wrote this statement on its website:
“The NRA will support any reasonable step to fix America’s broken mental health system without intruding on the constitutional rights of Americans.”
Whether it is a sincere sentiment or just a platitude (since it’s not first time the group has offered these remarks), this gives cover to Republicans, who dominate both the Tennessee General Assembly and Congress, to start doing something.
If the solution starts by fixing a broken mental health system, then do it.
The system is broken and must be fixed
It is clear the system is broken after numerous red flags could not keep accused Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking from possessing a weapon and using it on innocent people trying to enjoy a meal and conversation.
Had it not been for the heroics of James Shaw Jr., the killer might have massacred everyone there and maybe others elsewhere.
Reinking had posed a threat to the White House and had his Illinois firearms authorization revoked.
He may even have gone free had Nashville Judge Michael Mondelli not revoked a $2 million bond imposed by Night Court Magistrate Bruce Kessler.
It is not hard to understand the reason elected officials in urban areas including Mayor David Briley are advocating for banning so-called “weapons of war“like AR-15s. They are tired of the carnage. They are tired of the Columbines, the Virginia Techs, the Sandy Hooks, the Marjory Stoneman Douglases and now the Waffle Houses.
They have promised the children from Parkland, Florida that they would do something.
Their challenge, of course, is that the idea of banning a certain type or class of weapons is unpalatable in the present political environment where the NRA holds so much sway over lawmakers in power.
No constitutional right is absolute
However, back to that NRA statement.
The statement is a tacit acknowledgement of the reality that no constitutional right is absolute.
The 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed an individual’s right to possess a firearm, but also confirmed that not everyone has the right to have one.
“The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms,” wrote the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
While the decision never defined the term “the mentally ill,” the decision and the NRA’s statement should prompt lawmakers to provide the resources to fund research and treatment, and close loopholes that make it possible for people who are prohibited from having guns to buy, keep or use them.
That also means ensuring Americans have access to the best research about gun violence.
The recent omnibus bill passed by Congress allowed for the 20-year-ban on gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control effectively to be ended.
That is a small step and more must be done.
Lawmakers must treat this as an emergency.
How can they look themselves in the mirror when another student, another bystander, or another diner falls at the hands of a killer who could have been stopped?
The NRA is right to advocate on behalf of the constitutional rights of Americans, but not every American has the right to own a gun.
If the group is sincere, it will actively support reform efforts to move lawmakers now.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee and opinion and engagement editor for The Tennessean. Call him at (615) 2598063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.