Orlando massacre was a toxic stew of guns, terrorism and hatred
The toxic stew of easy access to guns, terrorism and hatred of gay people may have led to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
The killings of at least 50 people at an LGBT-friendly nightclub Sunday morning in Orlando, Fla., should help Americans focus on at least three recurring problems in this country.
▪ The nation is awash in guns. Congress must outlaw the production and sale of many assault weapons and take concrete steps to legally prevent more people from having access to all kinds of firearms. True, the gunman pulled the trigger that killed so many in Orlando. But lax gun regulations made it possible for him to have his assault weapon of choice in the first place.
▪ The United States must do better at combating terrorism from domestic and international sources. Sharp questions will be asked of the FBI’s diligence on this matter. It twice had the gunman under scrutiny but did not charge him with any crimes.
▪ The poisonous hatred of Muslims and of the LGBT community by too many Americans is wholly unjustified.
By Sunday night, the true motive of the gunman was unknown. He was Muslim but reportedly not devout. He also may have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before the killings, yet his actual involvement with ISIS was murky. Another report: His father said the gunman got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago.
The contempt spewed toward all Muslims was disgusting to see on social media, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump repeating his un-American view that they should be banned from this country.
The full-throated defense of the National Rifle Association and the gun industry that makes billions of dollars selling largely unneeded weapons to Americans was trotted out, on schedule, by too many.
President Barack Obama summed it up well Sunday, saying, “This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school or a house of worship or a movie theater or a nightclub. We have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well.”
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what a largely spineless Congress did after the Sandy Hook massacre and others that have occurred in recent years.
This time needs to be different.
This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Orlando massacre was a toxic stew of guns, terrorism and hatred."