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Op-Ed: Why Obama’s gun control action missed its mark

Although some greeted President Barack Obama’s move to take unilateral action on the issue of gun control with enthusiasm and hopes for a reduction in gun violence, others saw it as further steps down a path that will eventually terminate at the slippery slope leading into the abyss of totalitarianism.

However, both paradigms are far more fanciful than the mundane reality of what Obama’s executive action has really accomplished. The hard truth is, what Obama has done merely amounts to a clerical enhancement rather than any meaningful administrative action that carries weight of law behind it.

For all of the blustery rhetoric, Obama has done nothing that will have any bearing on gun violence whatsoever. Anyone who thinks hiring extra paper-pushers will stem the growth of the cancer that is American gun violence is either overly-idealistic, at best – or delusional, at worst. What we have here is a useless, albeit, well-meaning attempt at placating those Americans who truly desire to see an end to rampant gun violence.

The bitter reality is that there is nothing Obama or his successor can do to stop or even substantially slow gun violence in this country. There is no amount of legislation or tough sentencing that will alleviate gun violence or the problem of gun control.

One reason lies within the lucrativeness of the business of illegal gun trafficking, as well as its legitimate venues. Another reason is the daunting presence of the Second Amendment. However, a most significant reason is the proliferation of the American gun culture.

According to statistics, it is estimated to be more than 300 million firearms in the U.S. That number equates to at least one gun for every person in the country.

How can a nation founded at the business end of a firearm escape its own bloody legacy? Just like racism, the drug trade, and other worrisome issues, the gun culture is hopelessly woven into the fabric of American nationalism. Additionally, since issues like gun control make for good sound bites on the nightly news, talking points for the pundits, and great political campaign platforms, there is also just as much interest to keep it alive as it is to bury it.

After all, without such things, what would be left to keep us divided as a nation? Then the politicos would have nothing to make us fight over. Oh, what a wonderful place this would be, but that is a subject for another discussion.

With this in mind, it becomes clear why gun control will always be a hot-button topic, as well as one of the most serious issues Americans will continue to face. There is also another fundamental reason that gun violence, as well as other forms of violence, will continue and it lies in the depravity that exists within the human condition.

As long as there are people who believe their will should be enforced under pain of violence, the killing will continue. Unless people are willing to change their attitudes and outlooks on the value of human life, and the importance of its preservation, we will forever face the scourge of gun violence, and violence in general, and we will always be haunted by the deadly results.

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