As the one-year anniversary of Newtown approaches, the re-hashing of the anti-gun propaganda was expected. The left loves it when people die from gun violence, but when children are killed; liberals see a winning issue. They salivate over it. It’s politics at its most depraved.
There are a lot of Americans that have children, or are close to children; mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all touched by these tragedies. The fact that children are the victims creates cries for action. As emotionalism runs high, irrational swings in public opinion occur, like Newtown, where support stricter gun laws reached its highest levels since 2005. It’s since dipped below 50%.
Yet, it’s here that liberals deploy their wedge tactics. They exploit the grief of the families to further their goals of ending gun ownership in America. They ignore facts that gun control theoretically stopped Adam Lanza from committing this heinous crime.
He had to murder his own mother – and steal her weapons – to unleash whatever was troubling him on twenty innocent children.
Nevertheless, Sandy Hook shouldn’t be about the politics. It should be about the victims and their families in the wake of this unspeakable tragedy. It should be about empathy; the many birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other great memories we often take for granted that were snuffed out because of Adam Lanza’s rampage. It should be a day of mourning.
Yet, instead of Sandy Hook’s anniversary being about the children who were murdered, it’s now become a day to remind the country about background checks, or something.
Sterling Beard at National Review wrote yesterday that:
Organizing for Action wants to use the December 14 anniversary of the Newtown massacre to push background checks, and it wants you to help out by hosting “remembrance events.”
In an email pitch, the group declares that “communities are coming together to reflect and stand as one with the families of Newtown, Connecticut,” the site of the Sandy Hook massacre, where saw 20-year-old Adam Lanza murdered his mother, 20 children, and six other adults in a mass shooting.
“OFA will give you the resources you need to ensure your event is a powerful reminder of what we lost a year ago, and a reminder that we as a nation need to do more to prevent gun violence and keep our communities safe,” the organization said.
The email contains a link to a page on my.barackobama.com where users can log in and create an event.
“Despite overwhelming public support for expanding background checks for gun sales, Congress has failed to act,” the organization says. “Join local supporters as we remember Newtown and ask Congress: What will it take to make our communities safer?”
I think I’ll just keep the families of the victims in my thoughts, OFA. Although, I’m sure a deluge of inane tweets and comments from progressives will force me to do another – and regrettable – politically tinged post about how the left will never understand defeat on this issue the December 14. Until then, we all should remind the left that December 14 is a day about those affected by this nightmare, not about background checks.
There will be a time – if you must – to try to score those political points, but it doesn’t have to be on December 14.