A response to the Orlando terrorist attack
‘Why can a terrorist buy a gun, but a gay man can’t donate blood?’
On Sunday morning, I woke up and checked my phone, like I always do. I saw notification after notification from CNN. As I scrolled through them, I watched the death toll jump from 20 to 50. I immediately turned to other news sites to get more information. When I learned that the shooter was a Muslim man, I knew that a political battle was about to ensue.
According to a Washington Post interview with the shooter’s father, he “doesn’t have a beard even. . . I don’t think religion or Islam had anything to do with this.” On Monday, the shooter’s father posted this on Facebook: “God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality.” His father also went on to say that he believes his son was angered when he saw two men kiss.
The issue I have is that there are two sides to the cause of this massacre- one side says guns are to blame, and the other says Muslims are to blame. Both sides have some validity to them.
Those who have read the Quran know that it contradicts itself. It is not hard to find verses that call for the punishment of gay people. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which is one of our allies (and a contributor to the Clinton campaign), routinely kill gay people. However, it is also not hard to find verses in the Quran that preach charity, and denounce literally everything that ISIS has done.
What people on the right don’t understand is, that much like Christianity, there are different sects of Islam- some that emphasize the good parts, and some that emphasize the bad. This is not something that the American people should be freaking out about. Out of the hundreds of mass shootings that America sees per year, an extremely small amount are carried out by Muslims. You are more likely to be killed by a Christian extremist (ex. Planned Parenthood bombings) than a Muslim terrorist.
The rally cry of the left is something along the lines of “Ban all guns! Guns kill people!” While this is not always true, it is an extremely valid point here. The shooter was interviewed TWICE by the FBI for possibly having a terrorist connection, and was still able to buy two guns. Why can a terrorist buy a gun, but a gay man can’t donate blood? Because of the NRA, who make sure that anyone can buy a gun, regardless of whether they have bad intentions or not. It is not a leftist thing to think that the NRA deserves some blame for this, but the solution is NOT to ban all guns.
So, what is the solution?
I’ll tell you what the solution isn’t. Freaking out on the president for not using the terminology you want him to use. It does not matter what words are used, as long as something is done about it, which is something those on the right don’t seem to understand. The solution also isn’t to ban all guns. If the left believes that not all Muslims are violent (which is a true statement), the left should also believe that not all gun owners are violent (also true).
Part of the solution is stricter gun control. Nick Ottens, of the Atlantic Sentinel, writes, “Other countries that allow civilians to own an AR-15, like Germany and New Zealand, have both stricter licensing requirements and limit the number of rounds the rifle can carry- to ten and seven, respectively. That seems like a sensible thing to do.” He is absolutely right. No citizen needs an assault rifle for defense. We are living in a first world country where a simple pistol will get the job done.
Ideally, another solution would be to eliminate the bigotry that motivated the shooter, that extremists of Islam and Christianity practice. This is not Biblical times. We don’t have to worry about a dwindling population, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being gay.
This solution is more achievable. Someone who was suspected of terrorism TWICE by the FBI should not be allowed to purchase a firearm- ever. And don’t even try to say that he could just find a way around gun control laws, because that is a terrible argument. Ottens believes that speed limits are easy to get around, but they still make us safer. If we can get around to enacting smart, reasonable gun control- America will be a safer place.