The phenomenon of mass shootings has become a routine
fixture in modern America.
Few hot-button topics evoke the kind of strong sentiments and
staunchly held positions in people like the issue of gun control. The liberal
Left often views it as an ideology fit to undergo legislation and be adopted across
all states, while the conservative Right tends to support gun ownership as a
constitutional right for all, not a privilege for some, often cowering away from
any legislation to curb the widespread availability of firearms. Foreigners are
especially prone to greatly underestimating as to how deeply entrenched
gun-ownership is to the American identity. The brevity of the 2nd
amendment is its master-stroke, placing crystal clear emphasis on the token responsibility
of the public at large to act as a militant counterweight against the possible
outcome of a radically oppressive federal government.
From the constitution,
Amendment II:
“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.”
What many often fail to realize, is that the constitution is
a living document with the inherent capacity to be amended to suit the needs of
the nation as it advances, should the general consensus of those in power deem
it a necessary course of action.
This document was written in an era when the most powerful
firearms available consisted of single shot muskets that fired lead balls with
great inaccuracy and were clumsily inefficient in their reloading process, brandished
by soldiers who went up against Red-coated opponents that marched on the open
battlefield in perfect rank and file. The very concept of gas-operated, full
bore machine rifles with 30 round magazines were as scarcely imaginable to the
18th century psyche as the notion of an unhinged individual set
loose in a civilian tavern possessing the magnitude of firepower in a rifle or
pistol that could claim dozens of lives in a heinous act before being gunned
down by minutemen or taking his own life.
I’ll say it loud and clear: The dogmatic interpretation of
the 2nd amendment is the preferred ‘catch all’ shield gun-fanatics of every
stripe use to hide behind while they remain unwilling to adapt to the necessary
changes of our time and accept that it is a document 224 years overdue for a
revision that would keep pace with the issues of the 21st century,
specifically, mass shootings and gun-violence.
It is explicit, not just in granting a proliferation of
firearms to a ‘well-regulated militia’, but to the public at large with
absolutely no discretion as to how this was to be implemented once the nation
matured. The founding fathers were some of the wisest men humanity has produced,
yet we cannot delude ourselves into thinking that they had the foresight to
anticipate the technical and sociopolitical challenges that the country would
face hundreds of years into the future.
The inclusion of the
second amendment is predicated entirely on anti-authoritarian sentiments that
play on the layman’s fears of state-run tyranny by levying firepower in the
hands of the masses to keep the balance of power in check. This may have been
relevant in an 18th century group of colonies forming a new nation
from scratch, though it is now outmoded without legal safeguards that can
quantify an individual’s ability to properly handle a firearm. Congress has
long been influenced by the NRA and the gun lobby. They have this nation by the
balls. They’ve consistently lobbied against any progressive legislature that
proposes enacting restrictions on gun ownership.
___________________________________
Gun Violence is a cultural problem.
Make no mistake: mass shooting events are not simply going
to dwindle in occurrence. This trend is only going to perpetuate and it’s going
to fester, because we live in a violent, tribal, gun fetishist culture that
browbeats any iconoclastic dimwit that challenges the prevailing worldview
upheld by the majority of gun enthusiasts.
These people fail to recognize the rampancy of gun-culture and the
unmitigated availability of weapons poses a threat to almost everyone, and
they let it get in the way of their better judgment. Sadly, this is a direct
consequence of a whole host of factors, the least of which, being congressional
ineptitude, bureaucratic red tape, and the backing of a militant gun-lobby
which panders to a crowd-source that is ultimately fearful of their ‘liberties’
coming under scrutiny in any way shape or form.
I am a supporter of a citizen’s right to own guns. I support
open-carry as well as concealed carry. As a responsible gun owner, I am by no
means in favor of abolishing firearms (Not that it would ever happen in the U.S),
although I strongly believe there should be a rigid system of safety measures in
place to help ensure that fire-arms are maintained by responsible and well-disciplined
citizens.
Can there be anything more hilarious than that idea?
“Responsible and well disciplined citizens.”
Just think about that for a moment.
Consider the millions of gun-owners in this country: just how
many of them realize what an incredible responsibility owning a gun truly is? The
amount of power one has over life and death is immense, and the mental discipline
necessary to not only wield a gun properly, but to fully grasp just how extremely
slim the margin of error one has in a circumstance where they could be found
justified using it against another human being in accordance to the statutes of
self defense in their state.
This isn’t even yet taking into account the sheer amount of training
and mental fortitude necessary to prevent accidents and mishaps when even handling a firearm, loaded or not. To
shirk the responsibility of the kind of mental fortitude I refer to is to
embrace a level of idiocy that would make the ghost of Charles Darwin cackle
with glee should you ‘accidentally’ plug your best friend in the nads with a hollow-point
round.
Or, you know, your three year old nephew taking one to the forehead.
Whoever happens to be in the pathway of the bullet at the time.
An effective system of gun control would drastically reduce
the instances of gun related violence. Other countries have statistically
proven this to be the case. Enacting such a system into law will not prevent mass shootings and gun
violence, but it would represent headway in the right direction. Having these
countermeasures in place will alleviate the problem, though nothing can ever
truly prevent it.
The fact of the matter is we are not in control.
We never will be and the wiser among us know this to be
true.
Somewhere, in the
back of our minds, lurks this undeniable logical conclusion, even if some of us
are reluctant or unwilling to face that fact. It’s a hard pill to swallow. So
long as we live in a civil society that is armed to the teeth with individuals
who possess free-will, it is utterly impossible to completely prevent these
treacherous events from occurring. If a deranged individual is determined to
get a hold of fire-arms, they’re gonna get em no matter what the cost because
they have nothing to lose. And when one has nothing to lose, the very notion of
cost becomes meaningless. Whether through the black market, theft, 3D printing,
or self assembly, that craven individual, possessing enough resourcefulness, will
find a way to acquire an arsenal no matter how hard our society makes it for
them.
This is the price we pay.
Allow me to cite an article from the National conference of
state legislature:
“Under 18 U.S.C §
922(d): It is unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any
firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to
believe that such person “Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has
been committed to any mental institution.”
By more actively prosecuting and convicting any
individual(s) found complicit in selling or giving fire-arms to a person who is
mentally deranged, we will be putting pressure on negligent sellers and private
owners where it is needed , and that should give enough incentive to help provide
a drop in the overall rate of gun crimes and mass shooting events. State law on
fire-arms restrictions varies, though heavy-set uncle Jim-bob with his
moustache-goatee and Camo-cap scowls and spits his chewing tobacco in disdain
at the idea of any penalties or restrictions put in place. He’s probably
packing more firepower in his Chevy Silverado than Washington had in an entire
regiment. Hunters and sports shooters alike will hide behind their hobby to
legitimize their cause while avoiding the implications unfettered gun access
has on society at large. Many of these hunters are indeed well trained,
responsible, and are no happier to see gun-violence occur than your average liberal
arts major dwelling in downtown Manhattan, but they would rather see a Columbine
happen every year than take steps to support gun control.
When machine pistols and rifles are so easily accessible to
disturbed hormonal teenagers, gangbanging thugs (Yes I said it) and
schizophrenic post-teenage angst males with a score to settle against their
peers, then the outrage and condemnation should be especially vocal within the
ranks of NRA members. Many of which, are trophy hunters, sports shooters, and gun
collectors. The gun-lobby needs more people calling for change within its own
support base, and we don’t see this happening.
The following bullet points have been re-iterated by many a
left of center gun-control advocate. Sure, skip ahead to the last paragraph if
you feel you probably aren’t reading anything new.
My resolution methods pertaining to gun control are
fourfold:
1: Require federal criminal background checks along with
standardized mental health evaluations in place as standard protocol when
purchasing ANY firearm with a pass/fail outcome. Establish a waiting period of
several years if failed. Prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, those who
have either given or sold a gun to someone with an established history of
criminal felonies or known mental disability severe enough to hinder their competence
in handling a firearm.
2: Mandatory gun training classes and gun safety course with
a certified instructor. Again, employ this on a pass/fail basis.
All firearms should then be registered and a Federal firearm
holder’s license would then be obtained. Increasing fines with severe penalties
leading up to prison time should be on the table for judges to sentence
transgressors as they see fit. Mandatory minimums are a terrible idea, and only
serve to tie the hands of judges and fill up our already overflowing prison
system. Enforcing these licenses would be a logistical nightmare to the bloated
bureaucracy of our federal government, but it represents steps in the right
direction.
We require licenses to drive several thousand pound motor
vehicles at high speeds so why not issue licenses to own firearms? I am not
referring to a concealed carry permit, but a certified license issued just to
possess a firearm whether bought from your local Wallyworld, the flea market,
gun show, or a hand-me-down rifle from uncle Jim-Bob wearing his mossy-oak camo
cap. Is this going to stop Jim-bob in rural flyover-country from giving a hunting
rifle to little Aiden on his fifth birthday without a license or training
course? No Sirree, but I would damn well support his incarceration for gross negligence.
3: Amend the constitution to include the mental competency
of citizens seeking gun-ownership.
‘Whoa there! How extreme and un-american! How dare you
attack the Second amendment and my God given rights!’
Not so fast, Jim-Bob. This isn’t NASCAR.
It’s very clear the Second amendment has a built in failsafe
that accepts the implementation of gun control legislation. I’ll get to that in
a second.
In the same way that chattel slavery and Women’s inability
to vote were considered inconsequential during the formation of this country
and would later become blights on our nation’s history, some of the most
pressing issues were purposefully neglected to be dealt with at a later date. I
would successfully argue that the widespread gun violence we are experiencing
today is the unforeseen crisis that the second amendment has provided a
proverbial shelter for without specifying the extent of its reach. It is a pressing
crisis that we need to deal with in our day and age. Amendments have been made
to the constitution to keep up with the times when our civil liberties reached
a boiling point, and it is high time that gun-control be addressed in the same manner.
So, let us also draw attention to the fact that the 2nd
amendment contains an inherent bid for revision by examining its first four
words.
“A well regulated
militia…”
A militia? Regulated by whom?
Lets look into the Miriam Webster definition of the term
‘Regulated.”
Full Definition of REGULATE:
transitive verb
1 a : to govern or
direct according to rule
b (1) : to bring
under the control of law or constituted authority (2) : to make regulations for or concerning
<regulate the industries of a country>
2: to bring order,
method, or uniformity to <regulate one's habits>
3: to fix or adjust
the time, amount, degree, or rate of <regulate the pressure of a tire>
According to the constitution, if we expect our gun carrying
citizens to be a militia then they must be regulated like one; and regulation on
firearms means strict adherence to a set of rules, protocol, and above all else,
‘mental competency’ with severe penalties for those who transgress the law. I
propose that the amended clause be very specific as to the nature of regulation
stated in the 2nd amendment so that it applies ONLY to those
individuals with the mental faculties who have proven themselves, under a standardized
evaluation, to be worthy of possessing a firearm.
4: Better mental healthcare systems in place to treat those
at high risk and prevent these incidents before they happen.
This one’s crucial. Perhaps the singular most important solution
in putting the brakes on gun violence and mass shootings is to help prevent
them before they even begin. Detractors will often state “Oh no! The ‘Mentally
ill’ are wrongly accused, and are far more likely to be victims of violence
themselves!”
While our nation pours billions into the military industrial
complex, our healthcare system has become a barely functioning mess. There isn’t
nearly enough community outreach that could catch a lot of these incidents in
their early stages. There aren’t enough programs to fund counselors and mentors
who can see the warning signs and the red flags in young people and help set
them straight.
This is a direct consequence of our healthcare system’s
inability to properly diagnose and treat these people. Instead society goes
about labeling them as dangerous sociopaths and lumps them all in with the
others that Americans consider ‘undesirables’ with disabilities which run the
gamut from PTSD, ADHD, to anxiety and depression. Our healthcare system has
proven utterly hapless at the task of weeding out the minority of maliciously
mentally ill from the majority of innocuous mentally ill who just need proper
care and treatment and can barely help themselves.
_________________________________________
To those against adopting any measures that restrict
gun-ownership, I say you are outmoded and on the wrong side of history. You need a wakeup call to become enlightened
on this issue. For many across the
country, firearms represent one of the last bastions of masculinity in modern
America.
But wait!
Just opt for the model with the pink handgrip and it is now
a symbol of female empowerment! Yes ladies, you too can help fight the
patriarchy by keeping your hot-pink AR-15 locked in your chifforobe!
Even the notion of
fostering a discussion on enacting gun-control is unthinkable to some of these screaming
man-children who feel threatened that their shiny toys are going to be taken
away from them. This paranoia masks deeply rooted insecurities within the ranks of gun
proliferation advocates and is one major reason why meaningful measures fail to
even get off the ground: The pushback and mass-rallies following the
introduction of a gun-control bill would shake the nation. Having the FBI seize
Jim-Bob’s rifle collection, should he be
found guilty of an unrelated federal crime without a possessing a firearm
holders license would be lethal affair for agents making the bust because you
better believe he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
We would see hundreds of WACO style incidents play out across
the country. Fact is, there are millions of Jim-Bob’s out there, and many of
them would rather perish in a blaze of glory rather than surrender firearms if
convicted of a felony, which is why they petition the gun-lobby which funnels tens
of millions into the NRA which are then ‘distributed’ into the coffers of local
Politicians that agree to veto any restrictions on their racket. This is asymmetrically
costing lives. Instead, much of the news media and politicians choose to shift
the focus on the turban-wearing Boogiemen half a world away instead of
confronting the enemy within. The
obvious reasons for this:
A) To prevent a massive popular uprising and/or riots.
And,
B) Its simply not
profitable to target the gun industry in America.
If it is not a willingness to act against the gun lobby,
then what are we left with other than to conclude the brutal truth that the political
elite in charge of the country would prefer to let these events run their
course to help thin the herd? There are fewer resources to go around now
anyway. Just let the little people kill each other off.
After all, the richest 1%, as well as our senators and
congressmen remain immune to the public interest since they have bodyguards and
mercenary forces often amounting to the size of a small army that protects them
at all times. Political figureheads,
presidential candidates, and even Billionaires and some CEO’s have what equates
to a private platoon protecting them, except they wear business casual with
black ties instead of jungle fatigues.
The public at large is susceptible to its own monsters.
The victims have been High school students.
College students.
Movie theatergoers.
Amish schoolchildren.
Innocent first-graders and teachers.
Elderly African American churchgoers.
TV News reporters.
These are the events that make headlines on the news
networks. They get the ratings. They bring in the cash. What evils society
turns a blind eye towards are often those which hit closest to home. I often wonder how many Americans realize
that the vast majority of gun violence incidents consist of drive-by shootings
in ghetto slums, confrontations on the streets, college campuses, and domestic
violence disputes that occur every single day while working class America
conveniently ignores them. Most of these
incidents do not even qualify as “Mass shootings” yet underscore the same
pivotal problems we face, and add up to a far greater statistic than the sensational
incidents that grab the headlines.
Until effective methods are in place that help restrict
firearms possession to competent law abiding citizens, these types of events will only perpetuate in
an endless cycle of violence and we will grow numb and impotent every-time a
maniac with a lead dispenser decides to go on a killing spree after posting a
rambling Manifesto on livejournal while their actions make the primetime drama circuit
where the talking heads toss around buzzwords like “shocked”, “appalled” and
extend ‘heartfelt condolences’ that go out to the victims families as they try
to pass it off as “breaking” news to their jaded, cynical audience; their
actions analyzed ad-nauseum at Nine’O clock Eastern Standard by bearded old men
wearing wireframe glasses to help ease our collective guilt. Our nation’s ethos
is as hypocritical as it is incapacitated. So much so, that the mind balks at
its absurdity. If this is the future that we are inheriting, it’s going to make
the ‘Hunger games’ look like Sesame Street.
I can think of no better example to illustrate the profound dementia
of our mass media and modern American culture when faced with gun violence than
how we react to it when it hits the nightly newscasts: When it comes to
enacting effective gun control legislation, we see the epitome of ignorance
coupled with bureaucratic paralysis in our Capitols and courts, ritualized and
watered down to be suitable for primetime programming and made tragic comedy to
satiate the discriminating palates of God-fearing, white American suburbanites
that will squabble for fifteen minutes amongst each other while our senators,
congressmen, and their lawyers are laughing all the way to the bank with their
NRA endorsed cheques after having accomplished nothing.
Gun control means using both hands: It also means making a
fucking effort to help keep them out of the wrong hands.
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