Reuters reports that the Colorado shooting episode is very unlikely to affect current gun laws. Neither President Barack Obama, nor his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, tackled the subject during their press releases because they don’t want to compromise their political careers.
Gun laws have always represented a controversial subject. On the one hand, there are those who believe Americans should be allowed to get a gun, but, on the other hand, there are people who are very disturbed by the fact that purchasing a gun is easier than buying bread.
This duality is also valid for politicians; however, very few of them have the courage to approach gun laws in their political speeches being aware that they could lose the elections. A deeper silence has set over Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s speeches as the two are preparing to compete against each other at the Presidential elections next fall.
New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is the only politician who dared to link the Colorado shooting to the increasing gun ownership in America. As a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, he constantly advocates stricter rules for people who want to own guns. During a radio interview on Friday, Bloomberg requested Obama and Romney to take action against gun violence. According to him, the two political rivals should tell electors what measures they plan to adopt against this worrisome tendency, instead of using “soothing words” to win the elections.
Bloomberg further added that America is probably the only developed country in the world with such a big percentage of gun ownership. He claims a solution should be adopted as fast as possible because there are “more guns than people in this country”.
Despite this, recent poll results show that Americans don’t want politicians to impose “stricter” gun laws. On the contrary, in 2010 only 44 percent people requested this measure as opposed to 78 percent registered in 1990. As a result, Americans shouldn’t expect Obama or Romney to deal with this subject before the Presidential elections.
