DECEMBER 10 — The shooting in San Bernadino is being investigated as an act of terrorism due to the suspects professed loyalty to ISIS. It is not believed they were a part of the Islamic network; it was, in fact, a Facebook post, a pledge of allegiance, that connected them with the group. This classification as an act of terror seems to have sent the American political landscape into a tailspin of prayer, policy and prejudice.

There are two points that bother me with this proclamation and its ensuing political and societal fall out. 

Firstly, let’s be clear, anyone who decides to pick up a weapon to cause harm and fear on a mass scale is committing an act of terrorism regardless of their reasons or motives. We seem to have forgotten the meaning of terrorism and now connect it only to those claiming Islamic extremism as their cause. 

Dylann Roof was not labelled a terrorist for his racially-motivated attack on a Charleston Church; and politicians did not clamber over themselves to make new policy pledges and radical claims against all white supremacist groups.  

Robert Dear was not labelled a terrorist after his attack on a Planned Parenthood facility, just a week before San Bernadino; and politicians did not come forward inciting drastic legislative changes to ensure the safety of vulnerable women. 

It appears that when anyone else carries out these acts it’s a case of “Well, crazy is as crazy does” and “nothing we could have done about it.” But when Muslims do it, it grips the nation with fear and spewing forth from the mouths of politicians we hear a flurry of ill thought out, bigoted policy promises that would make even the most despotic of dictators blush. 

Yes, the shooters of San Bernadino held extremists views, they had lost their way and were brainwashed by evil rhetoric but surely anyone who believes that the best course of action is to pick up a gun and target as many innocent people as possible also holds these traits. They may have a different hateful motive at the foundation of these views but they are extremist and warped all the same. 

The second issue I hold with the announcement is that it seems to have served perfectly in shifting the attention from the original debate. All this focus on terrorism is detracting from the real issue that is, and will remain to be, gun control in the United States. 

In San Bernadino, just as in Charleston, Lafayette, Sandy Hook, Colorado Springs and Roseburg, dangerous people legally acquired a firearm over the counter and proceeded to indiscriminately murder innocent people. On this count, 14 dead; this year to date, 462 dead from mass shootings alone.

On December 6th, just four days prior to the San Bernadino tragedy, a person on the other side of the world, also possessing Islamic extremist views, also picked up a  weapon with the intent of causing harm to innocent people. How many people did he kill? None. What was he armed with? A knife. This occurred in London, a city in which not even the police carry firearms.

The scale of gun violence and the apparent ease of mass killings in the US is not something to be overlooked and bypassed due to distractions. It remains the main issue here and is a far more dangerous one than that currently dominating the political rhetoric. 

The US people have a right to be concerned about the rise of terrorism, of course, but for the one act in San Bernadino to produce such a drastic and impulsive reaction when the deaths of over 30,000 people per year by firearms goes by with a simple shrug of the shoulders is illogical and nonsensical. 

The urgent passing of legislation to stem the flow of Syrian immigrants has shown that the US House of Representatives can act quickly and decisively when they choose to. The call of Donald Trump to ban all Muslims shows the obscene lengths to which politicians are willing to go to “protect their people.” 

The impassioned condemnation from all ends of the political spectrum shows the disdain held toward a threat on American soil to American people. So why the indifference to the thousands of Americans killed each year as a result of gun violence? 

The big, lifesaving issue here which should be whipping politicians into a frenzy is gun control. Americans cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the statistics. It is undeniable that other developed nations just do not experience this problem on the immense scale on which America is suffering. 

They can blame it on what they want, distract from the issue, dress it up to hide the underlying causes, but the fact of the matter is that we all have the religious fanatics, the extremists, the racists and the “just plain crazy.” You know what we don’t have? Easy access to guns.

• This is the personal opinion of the columnist.