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accepting the murder of innocent children in mass shootings
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Is America still a Democratic Republic of the People
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Time to Redefine Domestic Terrorism Regardless of the Motive

Time to Redefine Domestic Terrorism Regardless of the Motive

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Whether it is madness born of mental illness or an extreme religious or political ideology, it is time to redefine domestic terrorism regardless of the motive. More importantly, steps must be taken to prevent it from occurring. If the perpetrator did not have easy access to high-powered military style guns, the two incidents of mass murders of the magnitude that we have seen in the last month would not have occurred. Period.

It is time, past time, to implement better gun control policies in a country that boast of being among the most civilized in the world. And, boasting is all it is since we lead the world in gun ownership, and incidents of mass murders. There are valid studies that confirm that the primary reason the United States has among the highest incidents of gun violence is because of the number of guns in circulation.

It is time to redefine domestic terrorism regardless of the motive. It is domestic terrorism when a madman or madwoman randomly kills innocent people in a public venue whether he/she has extreme religious, political, ideological views, or is suffering from mental illness.

time to redefine domestic terrorism regardless of the motive

Time to Redefine Domestic Terrorism Regardless of the Motive. Photo Credit: YouTube.com

If you take a semi-automatic or rigged automatic gun and walk into a church, a bar, a shopping mall, a crowded theatre, or set up a tripod in a hotel window as a sniper and begin rapidly firing that gun, killing unsuspecting innocent children and anyone within sight, it is domestic terrorism.

It is terrorism that happens because such “apparently” random acts wreak havoc, death, and destruction on innocent people, their families, their communities and the entire nation. It is time to redefine domestic terrorism regardless of the motive. Such acts of terror are a direct threat and infringement on the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness afforded all citizens. Just think about it.

What is the difference if such heinous acts are committed or inspired by a member of some extreme group, a lone wolf, or deranged person? In many ways, they all suffer from mental illness. The senseless carnage, the wanton loss of innocent lives, is the same.

Most of these incidents are well thought out and planned regardless of the state of mind of the shooters. It appears there is sanity amid the madness.

It is time to redefine domestic terrorism regardless of the motive before it becomes, and is accepted as, a normal part of life in America, resulting in those inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness being severely diminished.

Feature Photo Credit: EverytownResearch.org

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Janice Ellis
Janice Ellis
Janice S. Ellis, PhD, is an award-winning author. Her book, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major book sellers. She has written a column for newspapers, radio, and now online, where she analyzes educational, political, social and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. You can see her writings on this website.

15 Comments

  1. Kevin says:

    No one needs access to some high power military weapons unless they’re a soldier. Guns are the problem and people are the problem. I don’t know what’s making people flip out so much here in the US as of late, but it needs to stop and powers that be need to stop making excuses and crack down harder on who has access to such powerful weapons.

  2. Lance Stewart says:

    A lot of factors are at play when it comes to the gun violence in the US. I agree, mental health issues are huge part of it, and this is an angle we should all consider big time

  3. Psyche Atinen says:

    I think we really cannot limit the number of guns circulating in our country, let alone the guns smuggled and held by terrorists. So, i guess what we can really do is teach our children and younger generation and bring them up well so that they would learn what true humanity is.

  4. Scott Summers says:

    I am aware of Domestic Violence but Terrorism??? I guess in our case that would mean lefties right? It is an issue on every country I suppose.

  5. Laura says:

    Mental health problem and gun control in the US should be given enough concern. These issues should be given much importance to resolve domestic terrorism. Our world is becoming more dangerous everyday. If we don’t take action now then these problems will just continue and might just get worse in the future.

  6. Reynold says:

    Redefining domestic terrorism does not necessarily address the problem of mass shootings in the US. The government should focus on gun control instead. Moreover, redefining domestic terrorism to include shooters with mental health issues is rather problematic and somewhat discriminating to mentally ill people. The problem with lies on the US justice system which tends to be slow and unresolved in convicting young people who clearly have depraved political aims.

  7. David Mureithi says:

    It’s really important to tackle a problem at an early stage. People should also be educated on how to live accordingly. Weapons are not the problem, the problem is the people. People who have no mercy on other fellow humans. Very sad to see these killings.

  8. Matt says:

    Definitely it time to redefine the ideology of domestic terrorism. It baffles me to know that others don’t value humans life,they kill people at will which is so wrong no matter the reasons or motive. A stop should be put to it to show how abnormal it is to kill.

  9. Evandaz Camau says:

    Preventing domestic terrorism is impossible and it is up to the authorities to be able to vet gun holders and also extremist groups. I also think banning the right to bear arms can also help in the war against domestic terrorism.

  10. Anthony Lo says:

    I am a bit confused as to what this article is trying to point out — is domestic terrorism primarily caused by the policies on gun control, or the prevalent issues of mental illness? Is it due to both? Or that people suffering mental illness are allowed to possess guns? Regardless, there is indeed an urgent call to look at the issue of domestic terrorism on a different perspective. The rising incidents cannot go unnoticed, and every government should take the necessary steps to address this before it’s too late.

  11. Odimdavid says:

    Mass shootings in our country is now a major disease. It needs to be diagnosed and cured. Calling names or pointing fingers would do no help. If these perpetrators are mentally ill, they need to be identified before they act on their urgings. If they are real terrorist, the enforcement agents need to fish them out. How do we do this with so many guns roaming the streets? Beats me.

  12. peace says:

    Guns control policies must be put in place and implemented. Killing by guns especially the innocents is offensive and as such domestic terrorism must be nipped in the bud.now.The motives behind domestic terrorism aren’t worth the life of anyone.

  13. dora says:

    This is a good read where it will warn everybody and educate each one about the possible domestic terrorism and its danger. Most of the people doesn’t know about this kind of terrorism, with this blog I think it will be helpful to be aware for the possible

  14. John Pearson says:

    When you figure out how to keep people from killing each other that will be great. Mankind has been trying to figure that out for millennia. You want to ban a weapon because of its style, yet these guns according to studies for shootings per 100000 population this style of gun is used .003 per 100000. It is estimated that there are 310 million firearms in circulation in the US. If guns were the problem there would be many more deaths. People are the problem, a gun is a mindless inanimate object with no will of its own.

  15. daleljones says:

    Too many people seem to forget the reason we have the right to own guns is to keep the government from becoming too powerful. One only to have to look at North Korea to see what happens when the government owns all the guns.

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