Gun control in the United States is getting its "hey day"--which is kind of ironic when you consider "hey day" is originally supposed to mean a "happy, enthusiastic time". It's not really a good time for guns in general. Afterall, it's all the guns' faults that they are used improperly, and therefore, gun control should be a good thing. We're all seeing the end effect as our nation begins to polarize on yet another issue. Blastings on Facebook and Twitter about why guns are bad, how guns could prevent or deter bad things from happening, guns are the problem, guns are not the problem. Guns are good; guns are bad. Guns are inanimate objects. Oh, right, that last one is mine. Seriously, guns are not the problem. They are neither good or bad. They have no feelings, no response of their own--either reactionary or initiating, no understanding, comprehension or thoughts whatsoever.
In the 1800s, a large majority of women and some men truly believed that if you struck out at alcohol, we would fix all of society's woes. Many women made huge efforts to bring prohibition to fruition. In fact, a large percentage of the suffragettes believed this. Not all mind you, but many women fought for the right to vote because of a firm belief that society's woes were caused by alcohol. Murderers only killed if sparked in anger with alcohol. Bar fights were the real reason for all murders. If alcohol were eliminated, they contended, then men wouldn't get drunk and come home to beat their wives and/or children. If alcohol were eliminated, men would not be philanderers, and there would be no need for prostitution. Alcohol would eliminate rapes, because only drunken men raped innocent women. There would be no more "shotgun weddings" and no need for abortions (yes, they were performed, but that is a whole 'nother can of worms we are not opening today). No one would have pre-marital sex if it wasn't for alcohol. Without philanderers, prostitutes and pre-marital sex, there would be no sexually transmitted diseases. Yes, these were actual arguments made against alcohol. We now know that the abolition of alcohol, aka. prohibition, had nothing to do with any of this. People still commit murders. In fact, many murders are very premediated. Men are more likely to use guns, but women are just as crazy and more likely to use poisons. Rapes still occur; they're not about alcohol either. They're about power. Wife beaters still exist too. In fact, some of them never drink a drop and still beat the crap out of their wives. Prostitution, philanderers, sexually transmitted diseases, none of this was stopped by the outcry against alcohol that finally resulted in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution illegalizing alcohol. In fact, the illegalization of alcohol is now historically and permanently tied to creating the massive conglomeration of organized crime. Organized crime ruled the roost for decades, even after the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Striking out alcohol, which was only the scapegoat to the real societal issues, only resulted in much more drastic societal woes, because in fact, it turned ordinary law abiding citizens into criminals. Everyone went to speak-easy's. Everyone made alcohol or knew someone who did. Even churches were known to make their own wine for various ceremonies. Everyone, and I mean just about everyone, was now breaking the law. Society became more debase, more murderous, more contrived than ever before.
As we are now, people blamed the simple fix for a much more complicated issue. It's much easier to point at alcohol as the "root of all evil" than to dissect and analyze the bigger picture. The bigger picture should have a simple resolution, tied up in a nice bow, so that we have something to condemn. However, the "bigger" picture is never so simple and therefore can never have a "simple" resolution. We blame guns for gang related violence and deaths. If the gangs couldn't get guns, there would be no gang related murders. Of course there would be. They've been killing since the start of this nation. The James Gang, the Cowboys (OK Corral), Highwaymen (in Kansas in the 1800s nicknamed Jayhawkers), St. Valentine's Day Massacre...the list goes on and on and on. We've gotten so bored with it as a society that it's barely a blip on any of our radars. If an abusive husband couldn't have a gun, he wouldn't kill his wife. Really? Many of those types consider themselves above the law even with all the domestic violence laws that we have across the country today. Are we really so niave to believe they wouldn't have a gun illegally if we struck down the 2nd Amendment? There would be no robberies without guns. Sure there would be--either without guns--machetes or some other weapons--or with guns illegally obtained. People wouldn't commit suicide without guns. The majority of suicides are not even committed with guns--hanging and pills are still the most common. Mass shooters wouldn't kill and/or wound dozens if it weren't for guns--Colombine, the theater, the mall, the elementary school....none of this would happen if it weren't for guns. The 1996 bombing of the Olympics in Atlanta killed 111 people. The Oklahoma City Federal building bombing in 1995 killed 168 and wounded hundreds. Both of which, as you can see, occurred within a year of each other. Amazing how morons will commit a similar crime to others because they think it will make their point. Regardless, taking guns from legitimate legal Americans won't stop anyone intent on killing, robbing, abusing, or otherwise. In fact, it might be all the more gorier and devastating.
The 21st Amendment repealed prohibition after 13 years. As stated earlier, it made everyone a criminal. Even churches in some cases. People that I know are completely pacifists are now talking about going and buying guns. Not because they needed one before, but because they are afraid that somewhere down the road they might need one and don't want to lose their rights. They're afraid that someone might come into the convenience mart they're in and they want to be prepared. They're afraid that our government might actually go against our precious Constitution and Bill of Rights and are making sure that they are getting the guns before that happens. Gun sales are up. A gun store owner was on television this morning saying that he normally sells 30 AK15s a month. He's sold 30 in 3 days after the President blamed guns. Honestly, I'm a little mortified. I don't want you taking one conceal carry license class and going to the range twice and carrying a loaded weapon around. But we should see their point. They are now concerned that these tragedies could've been ended with less loss if someone had been able to shoot the assaliants. Likewise, I know others that have hopped up on their soapboxes screaming for the 2nd Amendment to be abolished. Already, this is polarizing, and the average joes that have never owned guns are choosing sides.
So the real question then is will abolishment of the 2nd Amendment be as successful as the 18th Amendment was? Will it turn every day, average American citizens into criminals? We love our freedoms and we tie our ability to protect our freedoms with guns. It's part of the American psyche. I'm not going to turn over my weapons because the government states they're illegal. Some states are taking more pro-active approaches--even challenging federal laws that illegalize some weapons or weapon modifications. Other states have enacted laws that are more drastic than the federal laws to try and control various societal woes--gang violence primarily. Data from California is not published anymore because so far their laws have been completely ineffective to prevent gang violence. Gun control advocates often claim now it is not conclusive but still "believe" that it does. There in fact is not direct correlation to the number of guns in a home versus the liklihood of gun violence involving a member of that home. An irony is that Connecticut has some of the strongest gun laws according to the Brady Campaign website. The guns and the gun laws have nothing to do with the crimes that we wish to stop. Therefore, like prohibition, changing the freedom of owning guns will have little to no effect on the actual crimes we want to prevent.
Guns are not the problem, nor are they the solution. They will have no effect on the behaviors that we are now observing. The problem is that we no longer hold anyone accountable for their actions or their liability on society. While that might sound like a simple statement, it really is a mouthful. We tell kids that they are more important than adults, we blame inanimate objects for their bad behavior, it's the parents' faults, it's always someone else's fault. We send mixed messages--no bullies allowed, but then relish in the bully behavior on shows like "Survivor", "The Celebrity Apprentice", or any other of a slew of those horrible shows. We tell our kids that they are the most important thing in the world even when they're in the wrong and wonder why they have issues in recognizing their responsibilities in society. We turn a blind eye when we see the neighbor throw his wife down the stairs of his patio. We wimper and whine about whether the neighbor's tree is hanging over our yard, but we fail to do anything if the argument starts to escalate to calm it down. We almost enjoy watching other people fight over the little stuff. We blame people for shooting a burglar who came into their home in the middle of the night with ridiculous statements like "well, the burglar wasn't armed" but the fact that he assailed the homeowner, broke his jaw, is lost on us. We whine like little babies over the small stuff and forget the big picture. We cannot fix crazy. We cannot fix the fact that society still has some very serious issues that cannot be legislated.
Guns are the simplistic answer to a very complicated question, and small answers almost never resolve a large problem. If that were the case, we'd all be geniuses and we'd have already resolved world hunger, war, religious arguments, and how to keep that pesky fruit fly from re-occuring every few years to ruin citrus crops. As with war and religion, this is not a small problem. It is our nature that is at issue. Not the nature of all people on this planet. People love to point out that other countries don't have guns. They are not Americans. This issue eats at the heart of our nature as Americans and also our nature as human beings. Some of us are really just flat out crazy; that's a planet wide problem--the whole human race. But, our American "nature" engrains ourselves with more freedom than in anyone in any other country. We embrace, love and even sometimes hate our own freedoms, but we by our nature will not give it up. We will even go so far as to jump to the defense of others (as a whole granted) because it is part of who we are. Mix flat out crazy with our inherent independence and it damn well may be a recipe for disaster. We can blame the inanimate objects all we want, but the simple solution will not resolve such a complex problem as the American psyche crossed with psychopath. Sometimes, we just can't fix crazy.
No comments:
Post a Comment