NRA Nonsense

Today, Vice President Joe Biden will introduce the White House’s new gun control legislation. When the NRA isn’t trying to arm infants or trying to make the government seem as oppressive as Big Brother from George Orwell’s “1984,” they’re lobbying in the House and Senate against gun control.

Listen up guys, it’s no longer the 18th century. No one is trying to take away your guns, they’re just trying to make it so that people can go about their lives feeling safe.

Yes, we need to do something about mental health in this country, but that’s a social change that requires the removal of stigmas surrounding mental health problems. In the meantime, there’s something we can do to make the country safer: creating stricter gun control legislation.

Despite the argument that criminals are going to get guns regardless, Japan, a country with extremely strict gun control laws, averages less than 20 gun-related deaths a year. After a mass shooting in Dublane, Scotland in 1996 where 16 children died, Great Britain introduced strict gun control legislation. This past year Great Britain had a firearm related death rate of .25 which is much less than the United State’s rate of 10.2. NRA, for your anti-gun regulation lobby, you get a fail.

We’re melting, we’re melting

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012 was the hottest year in the U.S. since we started keeping track in 1895. That means that from now until an era where the country was reconstructing after the Civil War, no year was hotter than the one we just had. On top of that, United Nations meteorologists reported that 2012 was the ninth-hottest year in the 160 years that they have been keeping track.

It’s about time that Congress finally got it drilled into their heads that global warming is a very real and scary thing.

You can say that the temperature of the world fluctuates, and that records are bound to be broken, but it’s time to admit that humans are contributing to the fact that the world is warming at an alarmingly fast pace. This gets a fail, because if we don’t do something about it soon, we’ll all be fried.

Faculty getting Fulbright’s

Five members of the UA faculty receiving Fulbright grants is a pretty big deal. This ties us for second in most faculty members with the prestigious award. We often complain about how bad our teachers are, but it’s good to know that there are some good ones out there who are being recognized nationally. It makes us feel better about the fact that we chose to go to a school that is consistently ranked outside of the top 100 in US News and World Report.

For getting top honors, you get a pass.

— Editorials are determined by the Arizona Daily Wildcat editorial board and written by one of its members. They are Casey Lewandrowski, Dan Desrochers, and K.C. Libman. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.