Yesterday we remembered the heart wrenching tragedy of the Pulse knight club shooting, where 49 people were brutally shot in the worst mass shooting in the United States. It raised many questions and once again the topic of gun control was in the air. The question of how to prevent shootings also occurred. One real problem that America and the rest of the world has when it comes to a tragedy is that both sides, left and right, liberal and conservative, are so quick to point fingers, placing the blame onto someone else. The left usually plays the gun control card, while the right blames the religion of Islam. As a Libertarian at my core, a lover of personal freedom and small government, I take the conservative approach to this matter, and here is why.
Whenever a mass shooting occurs and people die, the left run and screen about guns. Obama cried about guns during a Sandy hook speech, and California Dems have limited magazine size to 10 rounds maximum. One thing that many people fail to realize, is that criminals do not listen to gun laws. The Pulse night club killer Omar Matteen was carrying a Sig Saucer MCX, which is in the family of Assault rifles such as the AR-15. These guns where illegal in the area in which he purchased them, proving that he really didn't give a crap about gun laws. This whole demonizing gun scheme is bad for the freedom of the American people. People portray guns as horrible things that can only cause massacre and destruction. What the media fails to reveal to the public is that these guns can be used for defense and prevent tragedies. A man in florida used his AR-15 to kill three house robbers who threatened to kill his mother, who was upstairs at the time. Two men in Garland Texas shot and killed two would-be terrorists and stopped them dead in their tracks. Haven't heard of these things? It is because the left and all those in the media do not want to broadcast anything making guns seem like a useful tool of defense.
(above) a picture of the Orlando night club shooter Omar Mateen who carried out a terrorist attack on June 12th, 2016
One thing that people fail to realize is that maybe, in this situation, guns weren't to blame. The thing to blame is political correctness. The fear of possibly offending anyone that is of a minority or a so called "outcasted group". One of Mateen's coworkers revealed that he did talk about killing people and expressed hatred for Black people, Jews, and Hispanics using slurs. The question stands. Why wasn't Omar Mateen reported for this and turned in to authorities to be questioned? It is because he was Muslim. The same situation happened in the San Bernardino shooting in 2015. People heard the radicalized couple talking about things involving terrorism. The reason that no body turned them in or reported them is because they were afraid of being Islamophobic. The title of a potential xenophobe was far to much of a risk to turn these people in and stop an attack. How dare they offend the religion of Islam like that! Meanwhile you can bash Catholics and the church for not supporting gay marriage (News flash, Islam puts stronger emphasis on hatred of queer people).
(above) bar graph showing breakdown by religion of Support for same sex marriage in the United States of America.
Jenkins, Jack . US support for marriage equality. Think Progress. Petrohilos, Dylan. 22 Apr. 2015
https://thinkprogress.org/the-surprising-religious-breakdown-of-same-sex-marriage-support-3721651534ea
Whenever there is a major terrorist attack such as the one that recently occurred in London and Manchester, the major media outlets will never identify if they are Muslim or not, because that would be Islamophobic to identify terrorists with the Muslim religion! The fact of the matter is, terrorism and radical Islam go hand in hand. If you don't accept that fact, then too bad for you. Another thing that is very ironic is that the Catholic Church is repeatedly shunned for hatred against gays. A recent poll found that over 60% of Catholics were in favor of marriage equality while only 32% of Muslims where. Do you ever hear somebody criticizing Muslims for this? Of course not. Because that is Xenophobic, but it is okay to do the same thing to Christians in the name of equality. As the greatest country in the world, we need to fix this problem. Radical Islam has to be tamed, and stereotypes (such as Muslims being terrorists and Christians hating gays) need to end. Gun rights need to be extended to prevent attacks such as the Pulse massacre. When more people can carry, more lives can be saved and we as a country can tackle radical Islam, making America a comfortable place for regular Muslims.