On the tragedy in Orlando, tolerance, and liberality

On the night of June 12 at the gay club Pulse in Orlando, Florida, the bloodiest shooting in the history of the US took place. It took the lives of 50 people, and 53 people were injured. According to the police, the attacker, Afghan American Omar Mateen, armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, came to the night club Pulse and started to shoot people. The police chief John Mina reported that the suspect started to shoot at the policemen working in the club, after which he returned to the club and took hostages. According to Mina, nine policemen fired back at the attacker. The terrorist was liquidated during the gunfire with police and SWAT task force involved.

The Day asked Americanologist, Professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleksandr TSVIETKOV to comment on the terrorist act in Orlando and give a forecast of how it can influence the situation in the US and the chances of the main candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties in this year’s presidential race.

“There is a complex of reasons. Since the time changes, the psychological load increases, and the reaction of the society is growing more acute. Therefore the problem of gun ownership calls has caused a disagreement in the American society. On the one hand, free ownership of guns is based on the traditions guaranteed by the amendments to the Constitution. However, in separate states the rules may be stricter or milder.

“Most of the Americans, starting with the pioneers who explored the continent, treat gun ownership as their values. On the other hand, life is getting more intense, and the breakdowns are frequent. Besides, there is a question concerning the young people, who at this age must be responsible, and the weapons are becoming deadlier.

“Obama’s Administration, compared to their predecessors, approaches this issue in a more prudent way. The question of the use of guns is getting more acute and it will be the question to which different approaches will be applied by the candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties for the next presidential cadence.

“But none of the sides gives a full answer to view a single prospective of solving this problem. Trump has a cardinal stand connected with limitation of immigrants’ flow to the country, based on their faith. Clinton’s position is closer to life, it refers to implementation of stricter purposeful rules of restricting gun ownership all over the country.

“There is no doubt that this question is going to become by far the main topic of discussion during the presidential race, as well as during the elections to the Senate and the House of Commons. There is no doubt that we should expect restrictions on gun ownership, because this problem appears on the political agenda with increasing frequency.

“In spite of the statements made by the shooter of Afghan origin about his connections with ISIS, no direct connections with this terrorist organization have been traced.

“Clearly, psychologically unstable people can have breakdowns. And his breakdown was caused by seeing men kiss. The Administration calls the Orlando gunfire an internal, not an external terrorist attack.”

How can this terrorist act influence the race between Clinton and Trump, who tweeted that the candidate from the Democratic camp must call this radical Islam or leave the race?

“It is impossible for a single phrase to make anyone a leader. Since Clinton and Trump are racing against each other, they will bring forward the mutually unacceptable offers and will be criticizing one another. Of course, the Republican candidate will criticize the Obama Administration and the candidate from the Democratic Party. But today’s administration has a more reactive and generalized approach to this issue than the previous administrations did. The most serious cases of mass killings took place during its cadence. Therefore this problem will move to the next administration. This is a challenge faced not only by the government and legislators, but by the entire society.

“It is hard to say for which presidential candidates this situation will be favorable. America is a society of emigrants and it is against the spirit of Americans to ban or restrict the possibilities for immigration. And the control over issuing of guns is a totally different thing. Because of the escalation of the situation, the question is becoming a national problem.

“I would say that the stand of the Democratic Party is more reasonable, but it doesn’t give a final solution to this problem either. Without doubt, the issue will remain on the agenda of the discussion of the next political link.

“The nationwide mourning in the US is also proof that this problem has taken the highest level of the agenda.

“As for the conclusions for Ukraine, the general questions of development, tolerance, and liberality correlate in the Orlando tragedy. If we are headed towards the development of democratic and nationwide values, without doubt we must condemn the practice of intolerance and develop such rules in the society that would make it possible for people with different views to coexist.”