Republican presidential hopefuls miss a Sister Souljah opportunity at NRA confab
What an occasion it would have been for a Sister Souljah moment. That is, one of those noteworthy instances where a prominent political figure speaks unwelcome truths to one of their party’s supporters or constituency groups.
Imagine what a GOP presidential hopeful might have said if they had had the courage to speak the truth to the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, held last weekend in Indianapolis. Here’s what they could have said:
“I know I’m among friends today, so let me be candid. We all love guns and hunting and shooting, and we’re all fiercely protective of our Second Amendment rights. But in our determination never to give even half an inch on guns in the interest of public safety, we’re out of step with this country we love.
“We now have more than 600 shootings each year in America where four or more people are killed or injured. Meanwhile, guns have become the leading killer of American children.
“Yet we insist that nothing further can be done on the gun-access side of things — and glower at anyone who tries.
“Now, we all like NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, but look at the message Wayne offered up on Friday: ‘Gun-hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our millions of members can do to their political careers.’
“Wayne said ‘gun-hating politicians’ because political opponents always seem worse when they supposedly loathe something we cherish. And because painting every gun-safety advocate as a gun-hater makes it easier for him to claim that the ‘gun grabbers’ want to seize all our firearms as a first step toward stripping Americans of all their individual freedoms.
“Lots of us have said that kind of thing, but deep down, we know it’s not true. Most Democrats aren’t gun haters. They just want to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in America. Folks, so do most Americans. That means we’re the ones who run the greater political risk here, because we’re the ones who are out of step with the people.
“Our refusal to do anything on gun access leaves us blaming gun violence on mental health problems, even though many other Western nations have similar mental health issues, but not our elevated rates of gun carnage.
“Or we claim that nothing on the gun-access side of things will work and that the only real remedy is to put police in the schools or arm teachers and more of the public, in the hope that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun.
“But again, let’s be honest. We know a better solution would be to keep guns out of the hands of the sullen, angry, alienated young men who regularly stage mass shootings.
“Now, we love our AR-15s. They’re fun to fire and we like the sense of security that comes with having one. We rightfully resent the fact that to keep evildoers from regularly using them to commit murder and mayhem, some Democrats would also prevent lawabiding citizens from buying them.
“But even as we staunchly reject the call to ban ARs, let’s offer a counterproposal. Let’s propose a way to keep all guns out of the hands of potential buyers likely to use them for violence.
“Right now, under federal law, felons can’t buy guns. Neither can those with certain misdemeanor domestic-violence convictions. Let’s add to the list of excluded parties those convicted of other violent misdemeanors. Let’s keep them from buying guns for a period of five years.
“And let’s require that for anyone who is under 21 and who isn’t in the military to purchase a gun, he or she must first obtain a permit, and that as part of that, the local police chief must sign off on the license application — provided the chiefs can only reject such an application if they have a narrowly defined and clearly articulated reason for believing the applicant might well harm others or themselves with the weapon.
“Here, I’m talking about young adults who have made threats or worried their parents or have come to the attention of police or high school or college officials or work colleagues for violence-related reasons. The ones who, after yet another mass shooting, leave all of us wondering how they ever bought a gun — until we learn the various warning signs didn’t rise to the federal law’s current exclusionary threshold.
“So, my fellow Second Amendment supporters, let’s make sure our fellow Americans know we share their concerns. Let’s show them that we can be part of the solution.”
Boos would no doubt have rained down at the NRA confab. But outside the hall and around the country, such a message would have commanded headlines — and won the speaker a reputation for independence and courage.