Some votes require courage. Challenging decisions call upon elected officials to “lead, inform, correct and sometimes even ignore constituent opinion” in order to exercise their judgment for what is best for our nation, as John Kennedy argued in his Profiles in Courage.
Last Wednesday’s vote in the Senate on gun control legislation required no such courage. The Manchin-Toomey amendment was a common-sense and incremental step toward keeping more guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. The bipartisan compromise respected both the constitutional rights of gun owners enshrined in the Second Amendment and the victims of gun violence. It was a balanced and reasonable approach that accorded with the view expressed by 90 percent of Americans that background checks should be required of all gun buyers.
And, guess what else? Even the NRA, in a past life, would have supported the legislation. Startled awake by the Columbine massacre, the NRA launched a campaign supporting universal background checks.
But instead of remembering Wednesday as a day when our nation progressed closer toward securing our classrooms, workplaces, and streets from the menace of human killing machines placed in the wrong hands, the day will instead live in infamy. Buckling to the pressure and threats of a radicalized NRA and the widespread misconceptions of the contents of the bill, a minority of senators, Republican and Democratic alike, revealed their political cowardice and defeated the legislation.
Shame on them, and may each of them feel the consequences of their decision at the polls.
Last Wednesday’s vote in the Senate on gun control legislation required no such courage. The Manchin-Toomey amendment was a common-sense and incremental step toward keeping more guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. The bipartisan compromise respected both the constitutional rights of gun owners enshrined in the Second Amendment and the victims of gun violence. It was a balanced and reasonable approach that accorded with the view expressed by 90 percent of Americans that background checks should be required of all gun buyers.
And, guess what else? Even the NRA, in a past life, would have supported the legislation. Startled awake by the Columbine massacre, the NRA launched a campaign supporting universal background checks.
But instead of remembering Wednesday as a day when our nation progressed closer toward securing our classrooms, workplaces, and streets from the menace of human killing machines placed in the wrong hands, the day will instead live in infamy. Buckling to the pressure and threats of a radicalized NRA and the widespread misconceptions of the contents of the bill, a minority of senators, Republican and Democratic alike, revealed their political cowardice and defeated the legislation.
Shame on them, and may each of them feel the consequences of their decision at the polls.
