Re “Obama unveils gun measures” (News, Jan. 6): While the rest of the world will never fully come to terms with the twisted logic often witnessed in the United States in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, one can only applaud President Obama’s executive action on gun control announced on Jan. 5. At the very least this can be qualified as a proactive attempt to mitigate future tragedies, as opposed to merely reacting in their aftermath.
However, in dissecting the measures introduced by President Obama, it is quite clear they barely scratch the surface of the deep-rooted issues underpinning American gun violence. Furthermore, in a country where a new “Gun TV” home-shopping channel is about to be launched, expectations of actual implementation or a more robust legislative follow-up must be kept to a minimum.
While Mr. Obama must be commended for stepping into the ring, one cannot deny that it is an extremely sad state of affairs when it takes executive action and the exhibition of deep personal emotions to even have these basic measures launched into the political domain. If the massacre of first graders did not spur the nation into unified action, one cannot help but wonder, what will?
Sander van Niekerk, The Hague
Note from KBJ: Thank God for the Second Amendment. Without it, we would be at the mercy of the likes of Sander van Niekerk.
