Monday evening in Elkmont, Alabama, five family members were killed by a 14-year-old with a history of concerns that are being raised after the fact.
Alabama’s junior U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) has responded to the terrible tragedy by pointing out during a town hall in Rainesville that the crime could have been prevented, stating, “This one was clearly one that I believe was preventable somehow, some way.”
Bold statement, but how was it preventable?
Jones thinks a background check could have prevented this, arguing, “Universal background checks. We need to have some very narrow parameters on universal background checks.”
But, the father, a victim in this crime, possessed the murder weapon illegally because he was a felon.
That seems to be the end of the suggestions from Jones except for the common liberal trope about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that he shared: “What we need to do is study it and we can fund the CDC to do that.”
A study surely wouldn’t have prevented this, nor would a blue-ribbon committee or even an investigative committee.
Jones and I agree on one aspect of this: mental health. He told WAAY-31 that we need to focus on mental health concerns.
This killer was clearly mentally disturbed. Reports from his family members indicate he had gone off the rails in the last year after learning he was not the biological son of the person he viewed as his mother, he was acting erratically and killing animals.
But Jones’ fellow Democrats disagree with him. In fact, they think tying this issue of gun violence to mental illness is wrong. And their voters agree.
They also disagree with taking people’s guns.
Jones says that’s not the answer and that gun owners should not worry.
“Law-abiding citizens should not have any concern about reasonable restrictions that would save lives,” he advised.
For this to be true, Jones needs to lay out some plans of his own and describe what they would do.
His fellow Democrats have plans of gun confiscation.
This is a step in the right direction—and I'm grateful Walmart has taken action—but we can't rely on corporations to stop gun violence. We need universal background checks, we need red flag laws, and we need to buy back every single assault weapon. https://t.co/m8fr3qzZcx
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 3, 2019
Gun owners should worry about this a lot.
Excerpt from NBC:
In addition to the mandatory buybacks O’Rourke is championing, other 2020 Democratic candidates have sought proposals to make themselves stand out. This week, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for a threefold and fourfold tax increase on guns and ammunition, respectively. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, meanwhile, has made requiring a federal license to buy firearms a centerpiece of his campaign, and others, like O’Rourke, Warren, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have adopted similar plans.
“You have 20 Democratic presidential candidates each trying to look more anti-gun rights than the other for their base, so they have to have different proposals,” Alan Gottlieb, founder of the pro-gun Second Amendment Foundation, said. “It’s more heated. It’s more in-your-face.”
If this is where Jones stands, he better talk to his colleagues because they are heading in the other direction quickly and voters will notice.
Watch WAAY-31’s report:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.
