The text is from today's editorial page of El País, one of Spain's - and the European continent's - most widely read and respected newspapers. The Madrid based daily is covering the Sandy Hook massacre closely for its readers. MGR's translation:
"After the horrendous shooting in a Connecticut school, the latest such event in an endless chain, a sorrowful Barack Obama said that "significant action" is necessary to prevent further tragedies arising from the possession of so many firearms by Americans. The president said the same thing after the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman and the death of six persons in Tuscon last year, but nothing significant happened. Nor did it after Columbine, or the massacre at the University of Virginia in 2007.
"If it's true that Republicans will never legislate changes to an extant system which conforms to their most deeply rooted beliefs (the right to firearm ownership), it's also true that neither will Democrats, fearful of losing votes (in future elections). Obama was on tenterhooks during the political campaign whenever gun control issues came up, despite having promised four years ago to renew the Assault Weapons Ban which was signed by Bill Clinton but expired in 2004.
"More than a million Americans have died from gunshots in the last 40 years. The stats are even more explosive when measured against all the empty rhetoric on the topic, tossed out by public officials in a country where almost anybody can get his hands on a deadly weapon. Neither successive tenants of the White House nor Congressional leaders have shown any interest in taking on such a formidable vice, in a nation which serves as a beacon for human rights.
"Obama no longer has an election to lose if he shows the courage to put into action the emotional message he delivered on Friday. The president of the United States could leave no finer legacy to his countrymen than the enactment of strict firearms legislation, which would put the U.S. in line with those democracies where guns are already restricted or prohibited. The president must come to understand that the "right" to possess firearms is neither God given, nor is it written in human nature."
Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve narco violence wracks Jalisco and Michoacán, leaving 7 police officers dead
Dec. 25 - Death toll in Jalisco-Michoacán violence rises to 28, including 13 police officers
Jan. 18 - "Fast and Furious" arms were involved in shootout which killed Miss Sinaloa
It's an AK-47 world
Nov. 29 - U.S. guns may have killed Miss Sinaloa
July 15 - Spain's El País blasts Manuel López Obrador
Mar. 1 - U.S. guns play key role in Mexico's raging drug war
Feb. 16 - "Dear friends in the United States - please, no more assault weapons to Mexico"
Really an excellent question. Thanks for the translation!
ReplyDelete