“Ain’t no pink fag legislator gonna say I can’t have guns.” — The Fugs, 1968, “It Crawled into My Hand, Honest.”
I have mixed emotions ab
out the latest of an alarming string of mass shootings by a lone wolf or by duos of maladjusted killers. I really am sick and tired of the United States being the mass killing capital of the world, but I also agree with pro-gun folks that setting up gun-free zones is incredibly stupid in response.
This latest example is particularly worrisome because it’s a lot closer to home, only about a half hour away. It’s not in San Bernardino, Calfornia, it’s not in Columbine or Aurora, Colorado, it’s not in Arkansas, it’s not at Sandy Hook Elementary, it’s not at Virginia Tech. It’s in Kalamazoo.
Two of aforementioned incidents were perpetrated by twosomes in tandem (one acknowledgly by Muslim terrorists), but most were committed by a “lone gunman.”
These incidents continue, yet nothing is done in response. I grew up naïve enough to believe that the most important thing government can do is solve problems, but I haven’t seen a lot of evidence. I’ve come to believe I’ve been lied to all my life and the actual purpose of government is “to create a healthy bidness climate.”
Such is the case in the continuing saga of mass murders by gunmen, an unpleasant problem that isn’t entirely confined to the United States, but by a wide margin, we are No. 1. We Americans live in a country that suffers through more than 11,000 deaths by firearms each year while countries like Great Britain have 14. Even Canada, where lots of people own rifles, has an incredibly lower rate of firearm deaths.
But the late left-wing redneck Joe Bageant, one of my very favorite writers and author of “Deer Hunting with Jesus,” issued a strong caution against tampering with Americans’ rights to own guns, not just for hunting, but also for protecting one’s home and family.
We’re often told that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly says we have a right to bear arms. We’re also told we have a right to free speech in the First Amendment, but tell that to Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden. Or go yell “fire!” in a crowded theater.
Our rights aren’t absolute. A madman or criminal doesn’t have a right to a gun. There are exceptions and they should be spelled out clearly.
But too many gun rights advocates believe any discussion about regulating their gun rights is tantamount to taking away their Second Amendment rights. Many also say the solution is to allow more people to pack heat in public. Many have told us Barack Obama would take away their guns. He’s in the eighth and final year of his presidency and hasn’t.
So when we aren’t willing to have a rational and logical discussion to negotiate what should and shouldn’t be permitted, we let this string of tragedies continue. And as Edmund Burke said, “The best way for evil to triumph is for all good men to do nothing.”
I am sick and tired of the inertia. I am sick and tired of government not doing its most sacred job — solving problems on behalf of the people. I am sick and tired of the emotional and manipulative rhetoric, from liberals and conservatives.
We really have to do something about this problem before it consumes us.
