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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnalysis: Could shooting be a gun-control tipping point?
http://news.msn.com/us/analysis-could-shooting-be-a-gun-control-tipping-pointWashington has been reluctant to take on tougher gun control laws in recent years, but that attitude may change after the horrific events in Connecticut.
WASHINGTON The question surfaces each time a mass murder unfolds: Will this one change the political calculus in Washington against tougher gun control?
The answer, after the Virginia Tech killings, the attempted assassination of Gabby Giffords, the Colorado movie-theater attack, the Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings, and more: No.
But now?
The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the bloodiest attack against youngsters in the nation's history, stands as a possible tipping point after Washington's decade-long aversion even to talking about stricter gun laws.
So it seems in the stunned aftermath, judging from President Barack Obama's body language as much as his statement. "We have been through this too many times," said the famously composed president, this time moved to tears. "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."
It remains to be seen whether Sandy Hook will break the usual cycle of universal shock fading into political reality. That reality is based on a combination of powerful gun lobbying and public opinion, which has shifted against tougher gun control and stayed that way. However lawmakers react this time, it's the president's call whether the issue fades again or takes its place alongside the legacy-shaping initiatives of his time, with all the peril that could mean for his party.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)I am ashamed of my previous public silence. I will be silent no more.
This was definitiely my tipping point.
"The contrast here is not only between the civility of the children and the cruelty of the shooter, but between what was asked of them at this moment and how little the public and elected officials ask of themselves when it comes to doing s...omething about gun violence. ... How do we find ourselves asking kindergarteners to be more courageous in the face of a gunman than politicians are in the face of the gun lobby?"
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/12/the-newtown-shooting-kindergarteners-and-courage.html
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)"How do we find ourselves asking kindergartens to be more courageous in the face of a gunman than politicians are in the face of the gun lobby?"
Wow. Great perspective and great question.
Vox Moi
(546 posts)People in the gym, working out on the machines and watching the coverage on CCN, weeping.