Various sources are reporting this comment from Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst regarding Elliot Rodger's shooting rampage at UC Santa Barbara:
"Yes, I would say to this viewer that what happened in that shooting and that stabbing is an absolute tragedy," Ernst said. "However, I remain firm in my commitment to the Second Amendment. I have been endorsed by the NRA in this race, and again, just because of a horrible, horrible tragedy, I don’t believe we should be infringing upon people’s Second Amendment rights."
[...]
"This unfortunate accident happened after the ad, but it does highlight that I want to get rid of, repeal, and replace Bruce Braley’s Obamacare and it also shows that I am a strong supporter of the second amendment. That is a fundamental right," said Ernst.
My first, brief criticism is that Ernst values her NRA endorsement over another person's life. This alone should disqualify Ernst from holding any public office, ever. A Senator is elected to serve the interests of the people of her state, not just the interests of campaign supporters and ideological allies. Or herself. The Republican Party in general has lost sight of that, as possibly evidenced by their unwillingness to make compromises,
even ones that are lop-sided in their favor.
But what I really want to get at is the figurative shrug of the shoulders Ernst is making when she tries to pass this off as another unfortunate event that we as a nation can do nothing about because of some vague idea she holds regarding freedom. Let's pretend for a moment that this horrific, premeditated act of murder could actually be labeled an accident0, like a twenty-car pileup on the freeway.
Even if we accept that framing, doing nothing is still not a valid response.
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We take action and legislate solutions frequently to prevent accidents like twenty-car pileups from happening...and it's not considered to be any big deal, even though auto and travel regulations were once considered violations of our "fundamental right" of travel, just like firearm regulations are considered an infringement on our rights by some people today. Historically - pre 1950 - every traffic law out there was considered some sort of violation of our right to travel, which was one of the first liberties recognized under the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges and Immunities Clause. Yet, for the common good, we regulated travel and traffic even though such rules and laws could be - and at one point were - considered as infringements on our rights1.
But not anymore. We don't have a massive popular movement springing up over only being allowed to drive on one side of the road, do we? Being against a waiting period on gun purchases is like being against traffic lights. Saying clip capacity limits are unconstitutional is like saying speed limits are unconstitutional. Being against licensing gun users is like being against licensing drivers. Gun control shouldn't be controversial.
The excuse that we can't do anything about firearm violence because Constitutional-guarantee-equals-Oh-Well doesn't hold water; there are clear precedents that show otherwise. There are really no valid excuses for doing nothing when a preventable 'accident' happens, as our constitutional rights have never been unlimited. Our responsibilities to each other act as a counterbalance to our freedoms; in navigating the tension between the two, common sense must prevail.
And while we're speaking about common sense, mass murders - or 'accidents' - demand a proper response, not a shrug.
The proper response to too many accidents at a blind intersection is to put up warning and stop signs because there's a problem there that can be alleviated by doing so. The proper response to a vehicle that explodes when it's struck from behind is get it off the roads before it kills anyone else, even if auto manufacturers have to suffer through a period of bad public relations. The proper response to events like the Sandy Hook shootings or the Columbine shootings or the UCSB shootings or any of the other numerous firearm-related murders that we have sadly seen too much of is to put solutions in place that will lessen the number and severity of these incidents.
The focus must not be on maintaining a positive rating from the NRA, which appears to be Ernst's priority.
..............footnotes, comments, etc................
0 Rodger's demented murder spree was not an accident by any stretch of the imagination. I don't want you to think I believe otherwise.
1Read the whole .pdf. Not only is it interesting, but the history of travel rights and regulation bears a strong resemblance to our current argument over gun control. And yes, I detect a strong whiff of libertarian outlook on the part of the author.