Shooting for New Gun Laws?

January 13, 2013:  The Rising Gun Sales

As Washington awaits Vice President Joe Biden's proposal on curbing gun violence, the country has different plans in mind.

You'd think that after the Newtown school shooting that citizens in this "secure" country would quickly wish to take whatever actions necessary to get rid of this violence, right?  Wrong.  According to the New York Times, "gun and ammunition sales are spiking as people rush to expand their arsenals in advance of any restrictions that might be imposed."  Gun cases are emptying.  Shelves are being cleared.  Stores have low inventories.  So obviously the people don't want guns banned, so what do they want?

Apparently, the answer to gun control to most seems to be more background checks.  By closing the loopholes that currently allow 40 percent of gun sales to be made without background checks, hopefully the system could be safer.  The guns would be in the hands of those that can really handle them, solving the issue.  But what about these increased sales now?

At this point, stricter background checks haven't been put into place, so these gun sales happening now aren't as secure.  Maybe citizens only want a chance to protect themselves and are getting the guns now for the future.  And, yeah, it's great for sales!  However, what about those that are purchasing these weapons with possible malicious intentions?  It seems that there will never be one true solution to protect the country from gun violence.  In this day and age, the only thing we can all do is educate ourselves and try to keep the situation as under control as possible.

Compro-what?

January 2, 2013: A Congress Unwilling to Compromise

In dealing with the fiscal cliff, U.S. lawmakers had some difficult decisions to make.  They could let the policies scheduled for the beginning of 2013, including tax increases and spending cuts, go into effect, allowing for the threat of an economic recession to loom, or they could cancel some of the scheduled tax increases and spending cuts, adding to the deficit.  But what happened?  Congress, stuck in a political gridlock, waited until the last minute to search for a solution the problem.  And that solution was only a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Maybe this fiscal cliff has taught us something about Congress.  Can it really handle these big decisions?

In my procrastination of other activities and searching of the internet, I came across this video from author John Green.

 Here, he (very wittily) explains why our Congress isn't at the top of its game.  In the last 2 years, Congress has only passed about 219 bills... for the naming of federal buildings after war heroes.  So why can nothing major get done?  The main issue comes from the word "compromise".  The United States has come to have fewer and fewer swing districts, meaning that more districts have become strictly Democrat or strictly Republican.  Through expert gerrymandering and lack of political leadership, Congress does not want to compromise.  With no middle ground, decisions are left up in the air when the political parties continue to face off against one another.

If things are to get done to improve this country and its government, Congress must change its attitude.  Rather than allowing for a setting of political gridlock, Democrats and Republicans, although difficult, must learn to adjust their policies and views and be more understanding of both parties.  Without change, the country will continue to face situations such as the fiscal cliff, never coming to a real solution in a time that desperately needs one.

Please, Congress.  It's time to say that "dreadful" word.