This is a take so hot, it’s officially 2 Hot 2 Touch, by one Douglas Heye:.
Trump is uniquely positioned to cut a deal to prevent school shootings
Wait, don’t leave — that’s just the headline.
With yet another tragic mass shooting in the books, we’ve fallen back into a familiar, almost comfortable place in Washington. Both sides, especially on social media, go into their respective corners and essentially do not come out.
Both sides do it — you know this is gonna be good.
On the Republican side, we tend to offer thoughts and prayers and not much else. […] On the Democratic side, there are immediate calls for gun control, while mocking any Republican who offers thoughts and prayers as not only insufficient, but castigating anyone who does not support the Democratic agenda on gun control as being ultimately complicit in an attack. Much of the media echoes the sentiment.
So in these debates, the Republicans want to do nothing, while the Democrats want to do something and point out that Republicans are assholes for refusing to do anything. So clearly both sides are responsible for nothing getting done. The side that does nothing, and the side that wants to do something and calls out the other side for being assholes. Anyway — please do go on:
I was always struck by the reaction of colleagues whenever the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting was mentioned. […] Over time, I learned that it was […] a recognition of the work of so many in the immediate aftermath and how the government response to the Virginia Tech shooting was an example of how to get it right.
Getting it right is a sliding scale it turns out, because a mere 3 sentences later we’re told:
Ten years, later, it’s clear these actions — correct though they were — are not enough.
You think? These actions, meaning the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, are those about which the NRA wrote at the time:
In several ways this bill is better for gun owners than current law.
So clearly it had to be a really meaningful and impactful measure designed to address gun violence. So what should we do?
Many activists seem to mistakenly think that gun control is the only solution for immediate change. Indeed, we can take reasonable, proactive steps to help prevent future attacks, while protecting our Second Amendment rights. These need not be mutually exclusive.
Also, these need not be specified in any meaningful or even meaningless way. If you pretend to care about doing something, it will be done. But let’s get back to the headline — why and how is Trump uniquely positioned to cut a deal to prevent school shootings? Behold the entirety of the argument put forward.
But at a time when loud voices often rule the day, more calm voices, working together to solve this and other challenges surely is a better solution. Perhaps paradoxically, this creates a unique opportunity for President Trump to bridge this divide. He has a credibility with his base that other Republicans do not. He is the only person positioned to garner support for a deal that will simultaneously protect public safety and the Second Amendment.
So… the fact that we need calm voices means Trump has a unique opportunity to do something (what?), because his street cred with the Republican base is unparalleled. I can’t see any faults in this logic. I think Douglas should just go back to offer prayers, because it will take a miracle for President “I think my positions are going to be what the people in this room come up with” to “come up” with something.
