{"id":2143,"date":"2019-08-04T09:10:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T13:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=2143"},"modified":"2019-08-04T09:10:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T13:10:43","slug":"saving-lives-is-not-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/08\/04\/saving-lives-is-not-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Lives Is Not Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Trump<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump:  you are the President of a nation where white supremacists walk into Wal-Mart and community festivals and murder innocents.  If you think Elijah Cummings is somehow responsible for Baltimore\u2019s poverty, than you are most certainly responsible for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump:  What have you done to protect our nation from mass shooters?  You haven\u2019t improved background checks, you haven\u2019t banned assault weapons, you haven\u2019t supported \u201cred flag\u201d laws, you haven\u2019t done anything more than send your \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d to El Paso.  Soon you will add Dayton to that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump:  the Bible says \u201cas you sow, so shall you reap.\u201d You have sown hate in our country. While you may not be directly responsible for these killings, you have created an environment where those on the fringes feel enabled to act.  This is an outgrowth of the hate and fear you have engendered for migrants, and for those who are not white, or otherwise \u201cdifferent.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump:  like it or not, and I don\u2019t; you are the President of the United States.  You were chosen by a minority of voters to lead us.  None-the-less, it is your task. This is the real test of your Presidency.  You have so far failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republican Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Governor Abbott of Texas: you so forcefully pushed away all questions about controlling gun violence.  \u201cBodies haven\u2019t even been recovered,\u201d you said, \u201cit\u2019s not time for politics.\u201d  Governor, you already have dozens killed in the past couple of years in  mass shootings.  You spoke of the courageous the actions of the heroes who saved lives under fire.  Where is your courage to make the changes required to protect your citizens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Republican Congressman David Jolly said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor my Second Amendment Friends, \u201cwell regulated\u201d were the first words written by the same guys who wrote the rest of the sentence. It all goes together.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jolly has the luxury of not running for office as a Republican anymore.  The Party has abandoned all pretense of protecting citizens from the threat of mass shootings.  They have fallen back to the National Rifle Association slogan:  \u201cA bad man with a gun can only be stopped by a good man with a gun.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the reality is that the \u201cbad man\u201d can really only be stopped by McConnell and Trump.  They have multiple options to try to change the equation of mass shootings.  It can start with background checks for every weapons purchased, even those at gun shows. It can continue with Red Flag laws and mental health checks.  And it can culminate with banning weapons designed for modern war from the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Men with Guns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We already depend on \u201cgood men\u201d with guns.  Some are my friends, and I know they would lay down their lives to protect others. Those police officers will do what needs to be done if the time comes.  They are trained, they are armed, and they are prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they can only act when there is action.  In Dayton, nine died before the police could put the shooter \u201cdown.\u201d  In California, three died before they stopped him.  They are doing all they can to keep people safe. But they need help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, friends of mine who coach high school went to a normal \u201cstart of the year\u201d meeting.   The first hour was forms, procedures and goals. The second hour:  training from a former Afghanistan veteran turned athletic trainer on how to treat traumatic injuries caused by gunshots; how to pack wounds and place tourniquets.  For the coaches, it was a scary, but seemed like something they might have to use someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2012 a gunman went into an elementary school and killed 20 little children and six adults at Sandy Hook.  Then President Obama proposed legislation, but Congress was unable to act.  It was said at the time, if we couldn’t begin to contain our national addiction to weapons of war after Sandy Hook, nothing would ever change.  Now, seven years later, that\u2019s true:  nothing has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are at war.  Here are the statistics since Sandy Hook (Vox<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n