Gun-control debate should be refocused on places like Cleveland, not Sandy Hook: Mark Naymik | cleveland.com
Cleveland streets are a better battleground for the gun-control debate than Newtown, Conn. The incomprehensible December mass shooting of children at Sandy Hook Elementary sparked the first real push for gun control in years. But statistically speaking, it was an anomaly. The shooter was mentally ill and used a legally purchased gun. Though the mix of unchecked mental illness and access to guns certainly deserves attention, the issue does not fuel everyday gun violence.
Gun cntrol advocates lost the debate by focusing too much on Sandy Hook. This made it easy for the National Rifle Association to keep the argument narrowly focused on the harsh reality that no gun law could have prevented what happened at Sandy Hook. The NRA then moved the debate to non-control issues such as arming school officials.
Both sides of the debate need to spend time in the streets of Cleveland, if for nothing else than to reframe their respective sides in the debate.
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