Of Mass Shootings and Gun Control

I am in a small minority among my Facebook friends and I am not interested in picking a fight with any friends or family. But today’s events have made me reconsider when it comes to the issue of gun control. There seems to be an automated response that goes out as soon as a shooting event occurs — I saw at least six of these from different people, all with a similar message. It goes something like this: the evil media are aiding and abetting the radical left-wing liberals who want to trample on our constitutional right to bear arms.

Um, ok. The only serious conversation I have heard involves restricting fully automatic weapons and closing loopholes that allow people to skirt background checks and waiting periods. Any whiff of such rational suggestions elicits angry responses that would make sense if we were talking about personal defense or hunting rifles. Normally I get no direct answer from these people that applies to assault weapons and avoiding background checks (though I have seen at least one honest response that I talk about a couple of paragraphs below).

One ubiquitous argument is that criminals don’t obey the law and will obtain such weapons anyway. Here’s something to consider: how many of the mass shootings have been committed by known criminals? In some cases they used legally obtained weapons that belonged to relatives or friends. I suppose it is possible that some of them got their weapons from the neighborhood arms dealer. But I haven’t heard of any instances of school/theatre/political shootings where that was the case.

I saw family members suggesting that it should be made easier, not harder, to obtain a weapon — that today’s events (the Sandy Hook school shooting) made them even more likely to want to own a gun for protection. OK. So by that you mean you were thinking of buying an AK47? I don’t think so. Sure there are some people who would like to ban all guns but that is not what is on the table here. So go ahead and buy yourself a personal defense weapon. But please get a permit and allow for a background check. Owning a gun has a lot of responsibility attached to it. Soldiers and law enforcement officers tend to be fiercely protective of their rights to own guns. But both groups are required to go through intense training on how to use a gun, how to safely store guns and ammunition, and are educated as to the grave responsibilities inherent in owning a lethal weapon. They are also keenly aware of the accountability that becomes apparent the moment they discharge that weapon. I would think that training would make them a little wary of the guy who walks into a gun show and buys a weapon with no track record and no training and no assessment of his mental state. It sure makes me nervous.

Another argument goes to the true purpose behind the second amendment. This is sort of the backup argument because it gets a little dicey to talk about the fact that the second amendment primarily exists because of the nature of the new nation at the time the constitution was written. The people of the United States had rebelled against its government. To do so required armed local militias that eventually coalesced into an army. The second amendment was an explicit recognition of the right of the people to rise up against government that is no longer representative. It was not about hunting rifles and personal defense. Yet, how many Americans today would be willing to allow their neighbors to house missiles, tanks, bombs, and other weapons of war that give it any chance at all of unseating a government. Our country has a standing army, navy and air force. The original intent of the second amendment is no longer relevant. So we have adapted it to mean something much smaller and more personal.

This is not about taking a political position. I don’t give a rat’s ass which party supports what.  Those 20 kids are dead! That principal is dead! This is permanent — no recovery from it. This type of thing is happening with alarming frequency. The common denominator in almost every case is relatively easy access to guns — especially automatic weapons. Can you really say that you feel the victims’ family’s pain every time something like this happens while railing against any attempt to fix it? I don’t feel  their pain and I don’t want to. At best, I can faintly imagine what they might be going through. Even so, that is enough to make me sit down and take the time to express my frustration at our casual attitude about instruments designed for no other purpose than to kill.