It should be no surprise that following the mass shooting that took place in Las Vegas last week, leaving over 50 dead and far more injured, Democrats have used the incident to revive the gun control debate. Over 20 firearms were found in 64 year old Michael Paddock’s room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino, of which many were outfitted with a modification known as a “bump stock.” This aftermarket addition allows a semi-automatic weapon to be fired nearly as fast as a fully automatic weapon. Democrats initially began drafting legislation to curb these products from public use, but both Republicans and even the NRA have supported stricter control of them as well. While this may be a ploy to satisfy the Dems from further calls for regulation, this will be entirely ineffective in solving the issue of terrorist threats and attacks.

The focus solely on gun control in relation to terrorist attacks is exactly why the attacks won’t be stopped. Take what happened in Nice, France for example, where a radical Islamic terrorist drove a 19 ton cargo truck into an open market killing 86 people. Bombs, knives, improvised explosives, and countless other methods can and have been used to carry out acts of terror. The fact of the matter is terrorists will do what they wish to do regardless of the tools allocated to them. The focus does not need to be on the weapon; regulating firearms won’t stop terrorists from carrying out their attacks. What we need to ask ourselves is who is to be held accountable for this? How was the Mandalay Bay Casino completely unaware that Paddock smuggled over 20 firearms into his room AND completely modified his room into an assault bunker fit with cameras and sniper nests? Democrats blaming terrorist attacks on guns and modifications is just another example of an extremely complex issue being politicized to secure votes and support.  Hillary Clinton’s recent tweet following the incident was a classic example of fear-mongering, saying “Imagine if the shooter had a silencer.” Oddly enough her following tweet said that politics should be “put aside” in this incident. This clearly shows that even the party’s head figures aren’t concerned with the actual outcome of this attack, but rather see it as an opportunity to move their agenda.

Our second amendment rights are exactly what we need in a time like this, when political and party leadership fails to put the resources in place to prevent further tragedy like what we’ve experienced in Las Vegas, Orlando, and countless other locations. It allows us to keep ourselves safe when those elected to do so fail to deliver.  Bump stocks aren’t the problem, and neither are firearms. The problem is this: we are too focused on the politics of this incident and aren’t examining all the options that could be exercised to secure our citizens and their safety. Until that is done, attacks like this will, unfortunately, continue to persist.