The gun
control issue has many faces. It is a
complex problem. The positions taken by
liberals who support the destruction of every gun in America and abolishing the production of any additional firearms is
just as closed-minded and dangerous as the far right conservative perspective
that every American has the right under the constitution to own any form of
firearm and display them for the entire world to see. Both extremes have potentially dangerous
consequences that could end in violence and the deaths of many innocent people,
including recurrences of Sandy Hook.
If you support the idea of a
complete ban of guns then you are being naïve and not accepting some harsh
truths about our society and the boogie men that walk our streets. That is not paranoia but an unfortunate
fact. Just as laws in the past did not
stop people from drinking alcohol during prohibition or women getting illegal
and dangerous abortions (all of whom were technically criminals in the eyes of
the law at the time), the abolition of guns will not stop criminals from finding
the means of arming themselves, while law abiding citizens will be left
defenseless. Such a law may deter an
event like Sandy Hook or Columbine, but I believe it will enable more violence
and criminal activity than it will stop.
Just as a patrol car will get everyone on the street to obey the speed
limit, or even the sight of a uniformed police officer will prevent a crime
from being committed, the understanding that an average citizen may have the
means of defending themselves will deter many criminals from engaging in
criminal activity. A woman walking down
the street alone has a larger criminal target audience than the same woman
walking along side a man. There is even additional
deterrence if the guy is a giant at 6’7”.
Criminals are not irrational.
They are calculating individuals and want their booty with as little
effort and risk as possible. If the
crook believes that there is a good chance that they could become the victim
they simply look for an easier target.
In addition, this fear of the all
powerful assault rifle, with its ominous black outline and alien looking
design, is misguided. Reality is that
the majority of gun related violence, including mass shootings, are carried out
with handguns. In fact, I was recently talking
to a police officer friend and he admitted that if he wanted to commit such a
heinous crime (hypothetically of course) he would chose a crowded area and
start with a fully loaded pump action shotgun spraying over a hundred high
velocity pellets into groups of people with only 7 shots, and then follow that
up with two handguns. He is certain that
within a matter of a few minutes there would be over 50 people dead or
seriously wounded. That is a frightening
thought.
On the other end of the debate,
beliefs of the NRA and far right supporters who fear that we have to be
prepared for the remote possibility of the evil empire suppressing and
dictating helpless American citizens such as previous tyrannies (the Third
Reich and Mussolini), is fear mongering ideation. Is there a possibility of such a future for
America? Of course there is. However, even without every one of us armed
and dangerous, the likelihood of such a radical takeover is slim to none. And that is also the truth. Contrary to what radicals think and fear, the
President of the United States, whether a democrat or republican; white, black
or any shade in between; or a man or woman; is far from a dictator and the
means of gaining such authority is nearly impossible. The founding fathers established our
government with the intent of preventing such a tyrannical government. The President would have to re-write the
constitution with the support of both divisions of congress and the judiciary
branch. The military would be called to
turn their weapons on their own brothers and sisters. In addition to the federal government there
are 50 independent state governments with similar constitutions. Each state has its own militia as does their individual
cities. It would be a mass undertaking,
involving all levels of corruption, to successfully pull off such a coup.
Reality is that such fearful ideology is an excuse for
something that they want to have, not what they believe they need to have. There is a difference. And truth be told, even if we could have any
weapon we wanted, unless we owned drone strike capability, F22 Raptors, Apache
and Cobra attack helicopters, tanks, laser guided missiles and bunker busters
to name a few, we would still be inadequately armed against a tyrannical
government. Unlimited freedom of the
second amendment would not protect us.
I apologize. Once
again, I have rambled too long to get to what I believe is the real issue that
has to be solved to prevent additional tragedies like those in Connecticut,
Texas and Colorado. At the heart of the
problem is a sickness that is plaguing our society. It is a mental illness that is unweaving our
social fabric resulting in antisocial behaviors. These vary in severity such as someone’s
impatience while they are waiting in an ER for a non life threatening sore
throat, trampling people to death during a shopping frenzy, the need to post
every bit of useless information about our lives on social media, our need to
find happiness by buying ‘things’ with money we don’t have, a wall street
predator who will con someone out of their life savings for a commission, our
big banks and other corporate executives who expect to be paid millions in
bonuses while failing their customers, and even going on a murderous killing
spree victimizing innocent people including children. These are all a symptom of the same disease
that is slowly taking away our humanity and our ability to function as a
society.
Part III coming soon.
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