NZ Herald editorial: America's gun move glimpse of sanity

US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

Editorial

Is it just possible that sanity is dawning in the United States at long last on the subject of guns? The heartfelt protests of students from the high school in Florida, where the latest massacre occurred, appears to be achieving what seemed to have become the impossible. They have made such as impact on public opinion that even President Donald Trump has decided to improve on his initial, senseless response - to arm teachers. He has called on Congress to pass law improving background checks on gun buyers and accused legislators of being too fearful of the National Rifle Association.

Major firearms retailers, Dick's Sporting Goods and Walmart, are not waiting. Dick's has announced it will no longer sell assault rifles and sell no guns to anyone under 21. Walmart has adopted the same age limit, having already stopped supplying assault rifles and other semi-automatic weapons. It is a start.

Since the shooting last month that killed 17 people a number of prominent businesses have severed dealings with the NRA or at least withdrawn its discounts. They include three rental car suppliers, Avis, Budget and Hertz, and two airlines, United and Delta. The actions taken by the gun stores have been criticised as well as praised on the companies' social media sites.

The chief executive of Dick's has admitted they had sold a shotgun to 19-year-old Nicholas Cruz, who has been charged with the shooting at the Florida school. It was not the gun he used that day (an assault rifle) "but it could have been," said the CEO. "Clearly this indicates on so many levels that the systems in place are not effective to protect our kids and our citizens."

It says something for a new mood in America that these sort of sentiments are being heard. Indeed it says something that the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is still in the news more than two weeks after the shooting. Normally there are two days of familiar statements of shock and sympathy for the victims, descriptions of the killer and speculation on his mental state, accompanied by affirmations that the firearm was not to blame. The name of the school then joins a list that includes Columbine and more recently, Sandy Hook which occurred on President Barack Obama's watch. Obama made his own heartfelt appeal to the nation at that time. He pointed out that no comparable Western developed country has America's problem with guns.

But nothing happened. In fact gun laws have usually been loosened after these horrors, on the NRA argument that innocent people would be safer if more of them were armed. Trump's initial response this time was in line with that flawed logic. He wants teachers to be capable of shooting back. Maybe not all of them, just a few with firepower to race into a classroom when shots ring out.

It is insane that an educated country has listened to nonsense like that for so long. While he now advocates better background checks and more mental health resources, the President still sees increased school security as part of the answer. But at least he is listening to the students. It is a start.