Gun Control: The Low-Hanging Fruit

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.—U.S.  Constitution, Article II

The spirit of the Second Amendment says that the people should bear arms to insure against a government from within or without imposing its will without the people’s consent. And, in this day and age, if we the people are going to go up against our own, or anyone else’s, military, then we definitely need semiautomatic and fully-automatic weapons and, generally, every manner of high tech weaponry we can get our hands on. I make that statement in all seriousness, yet, even as I write it, I find it ludicrous.

Our government is never going to allow us to put tanks in our garages or fighter jets on our own personal runways, and the all-weapons movement seems to accept those facts. But, they’ve chosen the next best line in the sand: semiautomatic weapons. If we choose to stockpile a few of those, it’s our Second Amendment right to do so. Still, I fail to understand that strategy. When the Marines or Green Berets throw grenades into our living rooms are these weapons supposed to protect us? Is the idea that we should all take up residence in the woods, so that we can more effectively stave off such an attack, should it occur? (Yes, my imagery is totally based on that 1984 Patrick Swayze classic Red Dawn. Although in that film, it was the USSR throwing grenades on American soil).

All of this thinking only goes as far as the Second Amendment implies. The Second Amendment stops short of insuring the right to hunt or to own any weapon we choose. Yet, proponents of the all-weapons movement argue that prohibiting the purchase of assault weapons (ill-defined term that it is (Goode)) is a slippery slope, a first step in the slide toward the loss of all kinds of freedoms (Bell). This argument is given despite that the government limits personal liberties regularly: Wear a seatbelt; don’t put your trash out too early; buy auto insurance; obey traffic signals; obey the speed limit; don’t slander; don’t take without purchasing; children must attend school between the ages of six and 18; don’t yell fire when there is no fire; etc. All of these rules, regulations, and laws are enacted to insure the safety and comfort of the whole. Why should rules about guns be any different?

Is the drive to obtain or to simply have the right to obtain semiautomatic weapons really about the best hunting tools, the potential for a someday revolt of the people or a military coup, or simply the desire to maintain the most vigorous interpretation of the Second Amendment because that amendment has become synonymous with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the NRA is fueled by the gun industry?

I’ve read and listened to David Keene, NRA President, in a couple of interviews. He’s well-spoken, calm, armed with plenty of historical knowledge and statistics that directly oppose statistics provided by the interviewers. In one interview, with PBS’s Judy Woodruff, he said:

Well, we tried a ban on assault weapons. The only thing that is different is—and, remember, Judy, that an assault weapon has to be listed because there’s no functional difference between a so-called assault weapon and any other semiautomatic rifle.

So, this time, they’re saying, well, if it has a pistol grip, it’s dangerous. If it doesn’t have a pistol grip, it isn’t dangerous. Now, that’s absurd from a functional standpoint, because it’s the same gun, the same rifle. And the only difference is cosmetic.

So, banning something for cosmetic reasons is not going to cause—is not going to cure the problem (Woodruff).

Well-played, Mr. Keene. You can just see him, like the Tasmanian Devil, running circles around Ms. Woodruff. Mr. Keene is arguing that the government is pulling a hoax. It is creating new rules that don’t solve the issue, and it’s doing it at the expense of civil liberties. Yet, when the dust settles, you realize that these bans are designed to limit the limits even as they aim to keep the bad guys from getting weapons. This balancing act is performed to protect the liberties of responsible current (and future) gun owners.

In fact, the government is doing what it’s supposed to do: Insure the safety of everyone without infringing any more than necessary on personal liberty—including the option to purchase a particular weapon. What the NRA calls the failure of government is actually the art of compromise. Unfortunately, compromise often means that the journey to real change is a slow one. Nevertheless, government is working as it was designed to work. It just doesn’t have the luxury of standing in its own rightness.

Of course, David Keene is right on at least one point: A ban on assault weapons alone won’t cure the problem, but, then, no one thing will. The goal is not to cure; it is to take preventive measures. The goal is to limit opportunities for these tragedies to take place. These tragedies rear their head at the intersection of some of this country’s most significant problems: guns, violence, and mental health care. Figuring out what guns should be legal is far simpler than tackling mental health. We can only hope that greater energy and time will go into that debate.

This conversation doesn’t even begin to touch on the violence occurring in our urban neighborhoods where our children live with violence and fear every day. Where school might be safe, but every where else is a danger zone.

The NRA argument is a distraction from the discussions that need to be taking place, and the politicians who cow tow to the NRA sell out their constituents even as they stock up their campaign war chests.

Sources:

Beekman, Daniel. “Connecticut Shooter Used Heavy-Duty Weapons Registered to His Mother to Kill Her and 25 Others.” New York Daily News. N.p. 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ct-school-shooter-made-combat-weapon-article-1.1220431

Bell, Larry. “The Slippery Slope of Gun Control: Time to Stand on Firm Ground.” Forbes. Forbes.com, LLC. 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2013/01/15/the-slippery-slope-of-gun-control-time-to-stand-on-firm-ground/

Block, Melissa. “NRA Head: Registry of Gun Owners Would be Very Dangerous.” NPR. N.p. 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 21. Jan. 2013. http://www.npr.org/2013/01/11/169172198/nra-head-registry-of-gun-owners-would-be-very-dangerous

Goode, Erica. “Even Defining ‘Assault Rifles’ Is Complicated.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Jan. 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/even-defining-assault-weapons-is-complicated.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

“Jon Stewart Takes on NRA Over ATF Limitations on Enforcing Existing Gun Laws.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/jon-stewart-nra-limiting-atf-law-enforcement_n_2495301.html

Kempa, Darcy. “Assault Weapons Ban Would Not Have Prevented the Sandy Hook Shooting.” Policymic. Mic Network Inc. Dec 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.policymic.com/articles/21139/assault-weapons-ban-would-not-have-prevented-the-sandy-hook-shooting

“Our View: Executive Orders on Gun Control Wouldn’t Stop Adam Lanza.” lenconnect.com. Gatehouse Media Inc. N.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.lenconnect.com/article/20130120/OPINION/130119361/1007

Red Dawn. IMDb.com. IMDb.com, Inc. N.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087985/

Red Dawn. IMDb. IMDb.com. N.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087985/

“Second Amendment.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, Inc. N.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Second+Amendment

Spangler, Todd. “President Barack Obama’s Gun Proposals Raise Hope, Concern.” Detroit Free Press. Freep.com. 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.freep.com/article/20130117/NEWS15/301170293/President-Barack-Obama-s-gun-control-proposals-raise-hope-concern

Webb, Lee. “What Exactly Is an Assault Weapon?” CBN News. Christian Broadcasting Network. 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Jan. 2013. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/January/What-Exactly-Is-an-Assault-Weapon/

Woodruff, Judy. “NRA President David Keene Rejects White House Gun Control Approach.” PBS NewsHour. MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/jan-june13/keene_01-15.html