​Orlando was a horrific attack on the LGBTQ world

We were all shocked and surprised but not surprised, to wake up to the news of the horrific attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people died just for having a good time. Almost immediately, our social media news feeds were filled with people pontificating about what happened before we even knew how or why. Such is life in the 24-hour news media cycle. It was definitely frustrating and sad, after so many mass shootings in recent years, to realize how we’ve come to accept this as normal in our society.

I’ve followed it all closely; the motive of the shooter is still murky. But there are some things we need to make clear in the wake of it all. This was an outrageous attack on the LGBTQ community, who face constant, day-to-day worry about violence just for being who they are. They should not be forgotten and should be protected the same as everyone else. This is why we want things like discrimination protections in housing and jobs in North Dakota for its LGBTQ citizens. Treating them as second-class citizens or different than everyone else will not help protect them from the threats of violence.

Was the Orlando nightclub attacker motivated by ISIS or religion, as was claimed in his 911 call during the attack? Did he frequent these bars because he was in the closet? None of this changes the need to reject any types of hatred towards the LGBTQ community. Support is what they need more than ever.

If religion wasn’t his motive, that still doesn’t change the fact that the shooter was on the terrorist watch list recently, and while the U.S. government can ban those people from flying because of 9/11, they can’t prevent them from buying guns because of the strength of the NRA lobby. In December, both of our US Senators in North Dakota, Hoeven and Heitkamp, yes even the Democrat, voted against an amendment which would ban suspected terrorists from acquiring guns legally.

These moderate Democrats like Senator Heitkamp, and their fear of the NRA and potential effect on their reelection bids, are what keep these bills from passing. The NRA’s argument against such legislation is that it’s a slippery slope, pass this bill and they will come for non-terrorist guns next. Meanwhile, mass shootings have become the norm in our society.

And while each side screams don’t blame guns or don’t blame Muslims, nothing ever gets done to come up with any tangible, common sense solution to solve the problem. Let’s be crystal clear as President Obama was during a recent PBS forum when asked about gun control: nobody wants to ban all guns or take away your right to own a handgun or hunting rifle. That is not an argument made from any side despite it being the straw men in the room.

But if we can prevent a suspected terrorist from flying on an airplane, why shouldn’t we prevent him from buying a gun? If this legislation had passed, it might have prevented the Orlando attacker from buying a gun. That is not to say guns couldn’t potentially be purchased illegally or on the black market to carry out attacks. But why make it easier for someone to obtain guns? Maybe the extra steps would be enough to make someone think about this. Why is it so hard to buy Sudafed but not so hard to buy guns?

Which brings us to the other discussion point, in the mix of guns in the wake of these attacks. Banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons. The AR-15 has been used in recent attacks, including Orlando. It is not used to hunt or for gaming or for sport, but to kill people quickly. Why not ban this and similar weapons? Sure, people could find other guns, maybe less efficient ones. But why make it easier for them to kill people which apparently several of them want to do every couple of months.

What needs to change for us to do this? Other countries have proven that sensible measures can work and America is the country where this happens most. Mass shootings have increased in the last decade; the assault weapons ban was revoked in 2005. Don’t you think there’s some correlation?

Mental health has to be a component of any discussion and we need to make that care more readily available. But if we continue to shrug our shoulders, make guns easily available and hope for the best, we’ve seen where that has gotten us. Not to a country we can be proud of.

Sensible measures to make it less easy to buy military grade weapons are long overdue. And if we don’t want to wake up anymore with sick feelings in our stomachs, it’s time for Senator Heitkamp and others to stand up to the NRA and help make them a reality.