A New Day After Newtown?

After news broke about the cold-blooded murder of six- and seven-year-old children, some people said, “Now is not the time to debate gun control – it’s time to grieve.”
 
Now it’s time to debate gun control.
 
On Friday, President Obama led the grieving. Often mocked for his Spock-like demeanor, he showed more emotion than we’ve ever seen from a President.
 
He clearly knows where he’s going on this. His powerful speech Sunday night was a statement of resolve. He never said “guns;” he talked about protecting children.
 
Now comes the hard part: What to do about guns? How do we balance a clear constitutional right to own guns with a clear and present danger to too many Americans – like the children who were shot repeatedly by a military-style assault weapon?
 
Negotiating the fiscal cliff is tough. It will be far tougher to negotiate Americans’ divide over guns.
 
Then maybe we can talk about why it’s easier to buy a gun that get mental-health treatment for disturbed and sometimes dangerous people.
 
Let’s get on with it.
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Gary Pearce

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A New Day After Newtown?

After news broke about the cold-blooded murder of six- and seven-year-old children, some people said, “Now is not the time to debate gun control – it’s time to grieve.”
 
Now it’s time to debate gun control.
 
On Friday, President Obama led the grieving. Often mocked for his Spock-like demeanor, he showed more emotion than we’ve ever seen from a President.
 
He clearly knows where he’s going on this. His powerful speech Sunday night was a statement of resolve. He never said “guns;” he talked about protecting children.
 
Now comes the hard part: What to do about guns? How do we balance a clear constitutional right to own guns with a clear and present danger to too many Americans – like the children who were shot repeatedly by a military-style assault weapon?
 
Negotiating the fiscal cliff is tough. It will be far tougher to negotiate Americans’ divide over guns.
 
Then maybe we can talk about why it’s easier to buy a gun that get mental-health treatment for disturbed and sometimes dangerous people.
 
Let’s get on with it.
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Gary Pearce

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