Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM’s radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show” and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @TheDeansreport. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
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Obeidallah: If Trump is serious about keeping blacks safe from gun violence, he should support gun control
Is Trump simply engaging in political posturing or does he sincerely wants to reduce gun violence?
Donald Trump recently began saying he’s concerned with keeping African Americans safe from gun violence.
But it’s hard to believe he’s sincere given that Trump refuses to support the very prescription to do that: Gun safety laws. And unless he talks gun safety measures, it would appear the pundits are correct that Trump’s true goal is not to help the black community but rather to persuade white voters uncomfortable with Trump’s history of bigotry that he’s not a racist.
Over the weekend we saw Trump continue to raise this topic. First, he tweeted after the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade was killed by a stray bullet while pushing a stroller down a Chicago street (and misspelled the player’s name): “Dwayne Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!”
(This tweet, though, caused an uproar as many felt Trump was using this tragedy to score political points, especially since it was sent out before he had offered any condolences to the family. Trump finally offered his sympathies to the family via Twitter over an hour later after being shamed on social media.)
Trump again raised this issue Saturday in more detail during his campaign speech in Iowa, a state that’s only about 3.5 percent black. There Trump told the audience that, “Across Chicago, more than 2,700 have been shooting victims since January of this year.” Adding, “We cannot, as a society, tolerate this level of violence and suffering in our own cities.”
So who did Trump blame for this gun violence? GOP-led efforts in neighboring states like Indiana to make it easier for people to buy guns without any background checks? The failure of Congress to close the “gun show loophole”? The NRA’s opposition to any reasonable measure that could save lives from gun violence?
Nope. Instead Trump claimed that this gun violence was due to: “Failed Democratic policies – the policies of Hillary Clinton.”
It’s time for Trump to make it clear whether he’s simply engaging in political posturing or sincerely wants to reduce gun violence and help the African American community (as well as all Americans).
If he does care about people of color not being killed by gun violence, all he needs to do is follow this simple road map:
First, Trump should publicly support universal background checks to close what has been called the “gun show loophole.” The result will be that private gun dealers – like their federally licensed counterparts – will be required to do background checks to ensure that criminals, terrorists and those with certain mental conditions are precluded from legally buying guns. Recent studies show that these types of background checks “can significantly curb gun violence.”
Second, Trump should declare his support for proposed legislation drafted by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress that would “make firearm trafficking a federal crime and impose stronger penalties for “straw purchasers” who buy guns for convicted felons and others who are prohibited from buying guns on their own.” This, too, could save lives by making it more challenging for criminals to have access to guns.
Trump should also support closing down what are known as “bad apple gun dealers.” Shockingly, 90% of the guns used in homicides in the US can be tied to 5% of the gun dealers, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. But astoundingly, the NRA has fought efforts to crack down on these unethical gun dealers.
And if Trump is sincere, he won’t respond by serving up the same tired and baseless NRA talking points that Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation so new gun laws won’t work.
True, Chicago’s gun laws are strict. But 60% of the illegal guns recovered in the city between 2009 and 2013 were sold legally in neighboring states that have lax gun laws – the largest percent coming from Indiana, the state where Trump’s running mate Mike Pence is governor. This is why federal laws are desperately needed to establish nationwide standards.
(Pence, while on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, spoke of gun violence against African Americans but uttered not a peep on changing the laws to save the lives of blacks from gun violence.) )
So will Trump make it clear that black lives matter more to him than the support of the NRA? We are awaiting his answer.