Front line phooey

I saw a bumper sticker while driving on I-69 yesterday that said, “NRA, Freedom’s Front Line.” Oh, really now. I would have thought the Constitution or the Bill of Rights were our nation’s front line of freedom. They must have been around bullets too long and got lead poisoning.

What is it about the gun lobby that makes them think they are so important? All I see is a bunch of people who get their shorts in a knot every time someone proposes reasonable gun legislation. They oppose limitations on the size of ammunition magazines. They oppose a waiting period and background checks. They oppose limitations on assault weapons, and on and on and on.

The attitude reflected by this bumper sticker is not one that abides by the rule of law, but instead one that uses intimidation or the threat of force to achieve its political aims. Gosh, where have I heard that one before.  Sounds right out of the Bush/Cheney doctrine.

You cannot have freedom and a free society without the rule of law. That includes reasonable and enforceable gun laws. Without the rule of law, society will degrade into anarchy. I doubt that is what the gun lobby wants, but who knows? Their rhetoric is so one-sided and unreasonable anymore that they might actually set into motion the events they so desperately fear.

The gun lobby likes to say that guns do not kill people, people kill people. Well, guess what? Guns do not enforce laws either, people do; brave public servants like police officers, federal agents, judges, district attorneys, etc. The gun lobby  cannot use both sides of the argument to make its case, because all that does is make it irrational.

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Protecting public safety

There is an excellent editorial in this morning’s New York Times (Sunday, 1/23/11), entitled “Saner Guns Laws.” It concludes with this important statement about strengthening gun laws in the United States:

“Asked last week about the administration’s positions on these matters, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said the White House was focused on “the important healing process.” That is part of the president’s duties. So is protecting public safety.”

At the very least, a ban on gun magazines/clips which hold a large number of shots should be reinstated. As the Times so aptly points out:

“The National Rifle Association will counter that Americans need high-capacity clips for self-defense. We’d like to hear how many times in the real world the life of an American, other than a police officer or a combat soldier, was endangered because of an inability to fire 30 shots in rapid succession without reloading.”

Indiana Senator Lugar (R) has recently voiced his support for reinstating the entire assault weapons ban. This despite being up for re-election in 2012 with likely Tea Party opposition.

So, there are supporters on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps, as awful as it was, Tucson really has provided some new momentum to correct a terrible mistake by Congress,when it allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.  Let’s pray this is true, so there are no more horrific examples like Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois, and Tucson being boldly printed across newspaper headlines or being broadcast 24/7 across our collective airwaves.

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AmeriGun Idol

Below are paraphrased summaries of three conversations that have been overheard in the office in the past couple of months. The first was a woman talking and the last two were men.

• I tried to register mine, but was told to go to the township office instead of the city.
• I am not supposed to carry it into the post office, but when I am just on a quick errand there, I don’t worry about it.
• I own 35 of them.

These people were not idly chatting about their new iPhone, notebook computer, or cell phone in these conversations, they were talking about freaking guns! Since when did owning or carrying a gun become as commonplace as it was in 19th century Dodge City, Deadwood, or Tombstone?

To me, it seems many people in this nation have become completely obsessed with the stupid things to the point where they have become an object of idol worship; a religion unto themselves: the Church of the Blessed Revolver.

Idolatry is defined as “given to blind or excessive devotion to something.”  Well, from my observations, it appears that many gun advocates of this nation are just that, idol worshipers.  I see guns displayed on screen-savers, I see five or six gun magazines and catalogues lying around the break room, and I often see guns depicted on bumper stickers, window decals, or highway billboards.

I have never owned a gun of any kind, nor have I ever wanted to own one. But, this obsession by gun idolists is making me feel far less safe and more uncomfortable all the time. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence reported more than 109,000 incidents of gun violence in this country in 2010 or 300 for every day. Those are unacceptable numbers.

Here in Michigan, legislation was recently proposed that would  eliminate the minimum age for obtaining a hunting license, provided an adult accompanies the minor. What’s next, National Rifle Association (NRA) sponsored baby showers, camouflaged diapers, and shoot before you speak lessons? This is utterly insane.

I searched on the internet to try to find out how many guns there are in the United States. Guess what…nobody knows for sure. The latest estimate I could find was between 238 and 276 million in 2003. What kind of registry or tracking system is that?

I believe guns, especially handguns, are not a deterrent to crime like gun idolist would lobby.  Instead, they are an accident waiting to happen (all too often to a child) or they are an all too easily accessible final arbiter of heightened tensions and flaring emotions that can produce deadly results. Put a handgun in a volatile environment and you are asking for trouble.

In 2008, two-thirds of all murders in the United States were committed with firearms. For more interesting facts that dispel the NRA’s propaganda about guns, please click on this link to and overview of the issue by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The NRA has approximately 4.3 million members. Why are the rest of us letting 1.4 percent of the population dictate gun laws and rules to the other 98.6 percent? Gun ownership, like driving, should be a privilege not a right. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with gun ownership as it now occurs in the United States, it has to do with a “well-regulated” militia. We need to start emphasizing the “well-regulated” part, but it has been co-opted by the gun idolists as way of justifying their loose-cannon actions and bully-like attitudes. It is all a giant, selfish farce!

Am I saying take all guns away? Absolutely not. I have no problem with hunting rifles, antique guns, or family heirlooms. Rifles in particular are a basic part of our history and remain useful tool for many outdoor sport enthusiasts. But, for all other types of guns:

• Assault weapons are unnecessary unless you want your game to look like Swiss cheese.
• Handguns are unnecessary except for police departments and security-related services.
• Semi/automatic weapons are needless for anything but death, destruction, mayhem, and carnage.

Let’s take back the debate and our country from the gun idolists, to assure our children and grandchildren that they will not be growing up in a nation filled with unregulated, pistol-packing mamas and papas.

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Is it Ever Gonna be Enough?

In their hit song, “Gold Guns Girls,” the Canadian band Metric repeatedly asks the question, “is it ever gonna be enough?”  For gun advocates, especially those allied with the National Rifle Association (NRA), the answer appears to be a resounding NO. It does not matter how many victims are shot to death on the streets of Chicago, of Washington, of Los Angeles,  of Detroit, or of Wherever USA. Any sort of adopted or proposed limitations on the access to guns is challenged by gun advocates. Is this really what the founding fathers intended? I do not think so.

It is not only street violence with guns that is a problem, but also domestic disputes or accidents. Hardly a day goes by where there is not a story in the news about a child, friend, or family member being accidentally shot by a fellow family member or by a vice-president. Ready access to firearms, especially handguns and assault weapons,   is tearing apart the social fabric of many cities across the United States. Meanwhile handguns in the home, advertised as a deterrence, all too often become a lethal instrument of revenge, then regret and remorse.

Before going too far, let me make it clear that I support the ownership of rifles used for game hunting and for trap or skeet shooting purposes. What I do not support is the rampant availability of assault weapons or broad access to handguns. Exactly how many times do you need to shoot a deer to kill it, when hunting? From what I have seen, one well-aimed shot does the job. That being case, then why in hell is there the need to fire multiple rapid-fire rounds with an assault weapon? Are you going to have to protect yourself from hoards of rampaging deer that are angry over the death of the one you just killed?

Handguns in the home, or in some states allowed just about anywhere outside the home too, may seem like a deterrence. Instead, what they become is an opportunity for deadly violence that would not otherwise exist. Human emotions can at times be very volatile. Mix volatility with guns and a recipe for disaster is created. Add in alcohol or drugs and you really have a dangerous combination.

In his book, Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States, author Bill Bryson sums up the audacity of the gun lobby just about perfectly. He says:

“Nor, it should be noted, was the much-vaunted right of the people to keep and bear arms ever intended as a carte blanche, semidevine injunction to invest in a private arsenal for purposes of sport and personal defense, as the full sentence makes clear: ‘A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.’ The framers had in mind only the necessity of raising a defense at short notice.”

So, back to the original premise of this post. What is enough, 10, 50, 100 guns? I have a co-worker who once boasted about owning 35 guns. Other than collectors of antique guns, what possible need does he have for that many guns? Maybe someday, reasonable restrictions will be adopted that survive the angst of the NRA. Let’s hope it is sooner versus later. Too many Americans have already suffered from an awful, short-sighted, and often self-serving misinterpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

 

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