Preventing Gun Violence in America: What Can Be Done to Stop It?
Cracking down gun violence is gearing up to be one of the biggest issues of President Obama’s second term in office. The importance of preventing another mass shooting is something people on both sides of the issue can agree upon. How to go about doing so, however, stirs up another set of issues.
The National Rifle Association gave $20 million dollars last year to federal campaigns last year, while gun control groups spent $4,000 dollars. Today on Fox News Sunday, Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, noted that the NRA had a low return on their investment in the 2012 election.
Tanden believes the way to prevent more gun violence is by bringing in the voices of
progressive organizations and gun owners who support the proposals.
Larry Pratt, executive director for Gun Owners of America, was more skeptical. He told Chris Wallace, “We don’t that think there’s much likelihood that the Congress is going to move on making gun control laws worse than they are.”
Pratt highlighted bills that remove the gun-free zones which he says have been “a magnet to invite mass murderers into zones where they know nobody else will be able to shoot back.” He argued, “Are we really better off when we say no defense is a good defense?”
Tanden countered that a universal background check system is common sense. She added, “The issue here is really not, you know, one extreme versus another. It’s the broad middle rising up and saying you know what, we can do something about it. After Newtown, the idea that we do nothing is a tragedy.”
