According to gun enthuasiasts, President Barack Obama wants to take our guns away. At least, that’s what all of the anti-Obama memes that are being shared on my Facebook are indicating.
It’s amazing how the news media and social media can turn us into rhetoric-blasting nincompoops if we let it.
The truth is, Obama doesn’t want to take our guns away at all. He’s not challenging our 2nd Amendment.
According to whitehouse.gov, On Jan. 16 Obama issued three presidential memorandums titled, “Tracing of Firearms in Connection with Criminal Investigations, Improving Availability of Relevant Executive Branch Records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and Engaging in Public Health Research on the Causes and Prevention of Gun Violence.”
None of these memorandums mention the confiscation of weapons. That has not stopped an outcry from those under the misconception that the administration wants to tackle the foundation of the Second Amendment.
An article on newsmax.com on Jan. 24 quoted former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III claiming that Obama would be impeached if he enacted an executive order on gun control.
“It would not be legal. It would not be constitutional,” Meese said. “And, indeed, if he tried to override the Second Amendment in any way I believe it would be an impeachable offense.”
Well yeah. Any president that tries to tear down one of the amendments in the Bill of Rights is going to catch some serious heat from this thing we like to call checks and balances. It’s what has kept us from having a tyrannical dictator in office for 236 years.
The problem with our society and the media is the fact we let sensationalized conversation become the foundation of our perception, when in reality the media gives us anything but the truth. This fallacy has evolved into a quick-witted, demonizing habit of challenging the public figures we think we hate through bastardized blips of information.
These viral memes, calling Obama a moron and classifying him in the same breath as Hitler, are off-base and moronic themselves. They’re all just as bad as the Sandy Hook conspiracy videos. But, I digress.
The same can be argued for those who identify themselves as the left, and how we can perceive it. Just because CNN’s Peirs Morgan hosts a gun debate show and brings on idiotic guests so he can prop his pants doesn’t mean the network is subsidizing Obama’s administration and is part of some underground plot to tear down America.
News networks exist to sensationalize and entertain. It’s why they can’t just report the news. That doesn’t sell. They must have opinionated programs with seemingly endearing hosts and idiotic counterparts to prove points. Yes, CNN and MSNBC are left-wing media. Yes, FOX is right-wing media.
If we keep letting the media be our guide, we are going to continue to become a polarized and dysfunctional culture and our congress will continue to serve as a microcosm of the spoiled state of our society.
The president isn’t going to strip the Second Amendment.
In a New York Times article posted Sunday, Obama made it clear he understands gun owners’ disdain for the thought of disarming the public, but also makes it clear that is not
in the realm of possibility.
He’s quoted in the article saying, “If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became a part of your family tradition, you can see why you’d be pretty protective of that.” “So it’s trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months,” Obama said.
Our president isn’t trying to take away our guns to make him and the government
an all-encompassing entity that will turn on us and tear this country to the ground.
He has signed memorandums on action in gun control because he knows we need to do something about the negative effects that gun culture can have on our society. You may not feel that way because you live in a rural area and have been a responsible gun owner, and he gets that. But, people who live in urban areas and fear being held at gunpoint on a daily basis don’t feel the way you do.
We are a people. The victims of Sandy Hook were part of our people. Victims of every day gun violence are part of our people. Our President is working within the confines of the American system and constitution to help prevent tragedies in the future.
Also, it’s the media’s fault for misreporting the AR-15 as an assault weapon. But, that doesn’t change the fact you still don’t need an assault weapon. It still doesn’t change the fact most steps will be taken to prevent gun violence with handguns, even though the right-wing media wants you to believe the fact the president is opposed to ownership of such weapons is the driving-force of this debate.
Nowhere in the process will he try to remove your gun from your hands. If you honestly think that you need to get rid of your television.
Signed, a supporter of the Second Amendment.
Michael is a senior and a Communication major.
I have a question for you Michael and I think the question lends itself to answering another question; Why staunch supporters of gun rights are fearful of an all out attack on our Second Amendment rights.
The question is this; why is our government going after “assault rifles”?
Statistically speaking, based on what little we can glean from the statistics anyway, banning the AR type rifle will have, at best, a 3% impact on gun related homicide. Some reports suggest that the actual reduction would be less than 1%. Either way, it seems that banning AR’s doesn’t do anything to reduce firearm violence so, if we know that and the Government knows that, then why go after them?
The fact that the actions of our government seem to make no sense in relation to the goal that’s being presented makes people afraid of what the “real” purpose behind it is. When you feel like you’re being misled, you lose trust. When you lose trust, you question actions and motive.
If you have insight to my question, I would love to hear it.
Thank you