Massacre in Connecticut: Why Obama was smart to not call for more gun control

Nothing good can come from acting in the heat of the moment

President Barack Obama makes a teary statement in response to the Connecticut shooting massacre that left 20 children dead.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In the immediate wake of the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Conn., which claimed the lives of 20 children, several voices in the media eloquently and justifiably made the case for more robust gun-control laws. The general theme was that now is the time for this discussion, an impassioned rebuttal of the conservative critique that such a debate would "politicize" the tragedy. As Ezra Klein at The Washington Post put it, "That is code, essentially, for 'don't talk about reforming our gun control laws'":

Let's be clear: That is a form of politicization. When political actors construct a political argument that threatens political consequences if other political actors pursue a certain political outcome, that is, almost by definition, a politicization of the issue. It's just a form of politicization favoring those who prefer the status quo to stricter gun control laws.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.