What’s the Government to Do?

In article published today on Slate, David Weigel  examines the impact the Arizona shootings will have on the upcoming legislative session. In his piece, Weigel concludes that while the tragedy ought to make the 112th Congress consider stricter gun laws and the way our country handles the mentally ill, nothing will likely change, due in part to politicians being afraid to touch these “hot button” issues and procedural roadblocks Republicans would present in the House. Weigel represents a growing voice of young, progressive, pundits, highly visible in the social-media community, asking what the Federal government will do in response to the assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Why are they calling on the Federal government to respond to the situation at all? Where do the government’s responsibility lie?

Obviously, since a Federal judge was killed and there was an attempt on a Congresswoman’s life, the Federal government has a responsibility to prosecute the alleged shooter to the fullest extent possible, but with a Justice Department led by Eric Holder, that does not seem very likely.

Outside of that, what exactly do we need the Federal government to do? To suggest, as Weigel does, that stricter gun laws may have prevented the massacre is anecdotal at best. Yes, it seems likely that the alleged shooter obtained his weapon legally, but Weigel’s argument assumes that the alleged shooter would not have obtained a weapon by some other means. Let’s assume for a moment he was not allowed to purchase his weapon legally and because of that gave up on his planned killing spree. It would represent one instance where a gun crime was prevented due to the lack of legal access to a gun, as opposed to the mass of gun violence committed with illegally obtained guns each year. It would be the exception to the rule. Are Arizona gun laws too lenient? I don’t know, that’s for the residents of Arizona to decide, not the Federal government.

How about mental health? Obviously, the alleged shooter had some mental issues. On a whole, the care for the mentally ill in this country could be a lot better. I think it’s great if we, as a nation, can use this tragedy as a chance to consider those who suffer from mental illness and explore ways to better treat them. But again, not a Federal issue. It’s a system best left to the states and the private sector.

In the end, it seems that the Generation Y progressives are just like their predecessors and never miss an opportunity to exploit a national tragedy to expand the size of the Federal government. Some things, it seems, will never change!