Because of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama stated we must take steps to assure a tragedy such as that should never happen again. In order to assure that never happens, initially he stated we should not “politicize” the gun control debate. In a later presentation, when he addressed the Newtown School shooting families and responders who attended a vigil in Newtown, he asked his audience, “What choice do we have? Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics (italics mine) are too hard?”

I mention the change President Obama made between his initial response to the Newtown tragedy, when he said we should not “politicize” the gun control debate to tacitly acknowledging that it would be impossible to remove politics from the debate, because it is impossible to “depoliticize” democracy.

After the shootings, President Obama aptly described  their horrendous affect the shootings has on our nation by saying, “words can’t match the sorrow we’re experiencing.” That is precisely how anyone who has any feelings for the human race, specifically those lovely children and adults who were gunned down, no doubt feel. It’s important for politicians who will be debating gun control legislation to think of what’s indeed the best thing for the nation to do, rather than what’s best for the special interest groups. Lobbyist groups, such as the NRA, want to maintain the status quo; they want to maintain their hold on the issues.

They wish to do that because of their desire to maintain their strong lobbying position in Washington. If future politicians’ behavior is the same as in the past, they will allow the monies garnered from the NRA lobbyists which helps support their political party, to at least, in part, determine how they will vote. It is during those times, when the decision involves the “saving” or “destroying” of human lives where there can be a great danger that the politicians decisions can damage their integrity by not making decisions to protect the public welfare.

For a number of years now, the politicians have shown their loyalty to their political party rather than to the Constitution they pledged to serve and protect.  We must remember that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were all written to protect the public welfare. They were not established to promote the welfare of a politicians political party.

We need to encourage our politicians to reflect the will of the majority – those who have a humane interest for adequate gun control. We need to discourage politicians who may be tempted to respond to moneyed considerations and, in the process, damage their integrity.

If the politicians who make up our government face decisions that will promote one constituency or another, and if it has a powerful party-related interest for benefiting one of them, then there is little or no hope the decision will be guided just by considerations of the common good.

When democracy is at its best, it promotes  public deliberation among the politicians whom the public has elected to represent them, and in doing so, it promotes what is best for the society as a whole.

Considering the common good should be the only parameter our politicians should use  in making legislative decisions. If our politicians fail to adequately respond to the common good, (in this case, the public welfare) they will face a public and political outcry, as a result of not fulfilling their public duty.