To the Editor:
I believe Ms. Benesh in her letter [“Uninspiring Romper Room”] published in the July 7 Mount Vernon Gazette really misses the point about gun violence. House Resolution 3892 merely states “Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Muslim Brotherhood has met the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization, and (2) the Department of State should so designate it.”
And “Requires the State Department to report to Congress within 60 days whether the Muslim Brotherhood meets the criteria for foreign terrorist designation and, if not, which criteria have not been met.”
While the resolution might have some merit, it would do little to nothing to curb gun violence in the U.S. However, I would feel a bit more supportive if the NRA were added to the resolution, since it is our worst domestic terrorist group.
Gun violence is the product of the 300-plus million guns in the U.S., the love affair we are supposed to have with them, the fear we have been sold to look for bad guys and terrorists around every corner, and the fraudulent interpretation of the Second Amendment that makes the right absolute no matter how destructive it is to the country. Resolution 3892 will merely ramp up the hatred of all Muslims that many politicians have pushed for over a decade.
Unless Congress gets serious about comprehensive, common sense gun control legislation, we will continue to have mass murders that already go well beyond the commonly known locations: Columbine, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Orlando, etc. Every abused spouse will have to wonder if the abuser will express his/her abuse through a fired gun; every parent will have to wonder whether a carelessly stored gun will result in a curious child accidently killing himself or another child; every person will have to wonder whether the next time they walk their dog, go shopping, go to church, or just live, life will be stopped by a bullet, stray or intentional; every police officer will have to wonder whether the person they stop is going to pull a gun or maybe is just complying with a request for an ID.
Until we have comprehensive, common sense gun control legislation passed through Congress and enacted, death will greet us every day, in single gun deaths and mass deaths. We will have more weeks like the week of July 4, which had two high profile police shootings of questionable legitimacy and more police targeted as in Dallas.
Even though Ms. Bensh was not “moved or inspired” by the Democratic sit-in, we need only look at the Republican modus operandi of doing everything to undermine gun control, even after the worst mass murder in
the U.S. In the end, the sit-in was a very appropriate response. Paul Ryan and his Republican colleagues are an embarrassment to the country. For that reason, I doubt the House and Senate majorities will do what is
right with gun control.
William Zaccagnino
Alexandria