US gun control horribly muddled by politics

There’s something creepy about a country that thinks possession of a lethal weapon is a basic right of citizens, but access to healthcare is a privilege. That is a message going viral on social media at the moment. In that country, the United States, it took a reporter as little as seven minutes to buy the same firearm used in the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida that horrified and saddened the whole world. The purchase, carried out as part of investigative journalism, went through smoothly only a few days after the massacre.
So, something is not just wrong in America. It’s very seriously wrong. What the reporter bought was not just a handgun that could scare most thieves away. It was a high-powered assault rifle that could be used in any gangland war or even wars between countries. Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Helen Ubinas simply presented a driving licence and volunteered a background check before walking off with the deadly weapon.
Anyone can get a driving licence. And anyone can pass that background check if they have never committed a crime before. In other words, a psychopath with a driving licence and clean record can walk out of a gun shop with an AR-15 rifle as well.
The right to own guns is making its way to the US presidential race. American politics has distorted, blurred and smeared the issue before, but nastiness can reach new heights this round, not least because the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump is all over it now.
He has been swinging back and forth on gun control, once supporting the attempt to “get the guns” and then seeking to protect the Second Amendment, which enshrines the right of the people to keep and bear arms. His stand became quite muddled in the Orlando aftermath, with a remark that the bloodbath wouldn’t have happened had other people in the pub where the killing took place carried guns themselves. Facing an outcry, he backtracked a bit, saying he meant only certain people, like guards.
Trump is just an extreme example of how politics has messed up the need for stricter laws in America, where the gun industry wields heavy influence in national affairs. Every time a mentally-ill or ideologically-crazed shooter goes on a rampage, the industry finds itself against the ropes, but only temporarily. As the US presidential voting draws near, the Orlando massacre has triggered massive political fervour.
The world, which knows full well “blacklisted” people are not the only ones to blame for America’s gun-relat?ed tragedies, will not be surprised if American politicians start splitting hairs again on gun control. Trump has set the tone by formulating an ever-changing stance on who should be entitled to possess firearms. Even the US National Rifle Association, which is said to be backing him for president, is getting bewildered by his remarks, to say the least.
In short, politics has dictated the direction of a life-or-death issue, which should not tolerate any compromise whatsoever. The Orlando shooting has once again exposed America’s gun policy as deeply flawed.
However, perhaps it’s more than that. The policy probably reflects a far bigger shortcoming. What government in the world would want its citizens to arm themselves to defend themselves anyway? There can be only one answer: A government that fails on a grand scale to fight crime.
Many things must be seriously wrong in America. Will politics correct them? The likes of Donald Trump may not fill many people with optimism. The situation, though, has come to a point where peace-loving Americans, no matter how much in despair, have to hope for the best.