(Originally published on November 16, 2019)
Ran into this article by an obvious gun enthusiast, who suggests that gun ownership is a basic responsibility that should extend to all Americans. In fact, he goes so far as to suggest that gun ownership should be a prerequisite to voting. Apparently, he and others who think like him champion the Constitution when it comes to what they believe is the right to bear arms, but somehow keep getting the words right to vote wrong. Always seems like there should be qualifications to exercise, or even to have, that right among those who identify as conservatives in this day and age. It used to be property ownership, and some now apparently feel that it should be gun ownership. Others believe that anyone who gets in some kind of trouble with the law should lose their right to vote. And on and on and on.
Well, I saw a link to this article on one of my Facebook pages (yes, I have more than one, admittedly), and decided to respond.
The guy who posted it was one of those enthusiastic conservatives, apparently a self-identified libertarian who is paranoid of anything with the word socialism in it. Surely a Trump supporter, although I did not rummage through his page long enough to get this, specifically, I decided nevertheless to challenge his mode of thinking a little bit.
Here is what I said:
Countries around the world reduce gun violence by using logic, and taking more guns off the streets, particularly the most deadly assault rifles. The American response - which the rest of the world does not understand, much less believe in - is to put more guns on the streets. Every time there is a major mass shooting, there is a spike in gun sales. Yet, there is more gun violence, and the United States still leads every other industrialized country - and any peacetime nation - in gun violence and gun deaths. And of course, Americans in favor of more guns on the streets - and they are a tiny minority - gloss over this information and, predictably, claim the solution to gun violence is more guns. They oppose common sense gun measures, such as background checks and making gun owners responsible for anything that happens with their guns, as well as banning the most deadly assault weapons. Somehow, though, this tiny minority keep getting their way politically through special interest lobbying, even though they remain in a tiny minority. There are far more deaths by guns in this country than any other industrialized nation, and it is not even close, but we never, ever take any steps to try and seriously tackle this issue. Just more "thoughts and prayers" to families of victims. Then, we are surprised when the rest of the world laughs at us, or shakes their head at our stubborn and willful ignorance on this issue. Ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as people who blast celebrity culture and New York elitism voting in a celebrity New York billionaire to fix this nation's problems and fight elitism. No wonder we are fast becoming the laughingstock of the world!
Personally, I am tired of Americans always assuming that they have to be different, to stand out from the rest of the world, just for the sake of being different. Too many Americans - although nowhere near a majority - are relying on beliefs that run counter to reality. Climate seems to be warming? Cast shade on scientists and claim it is an anti-American conspiracy. Growing economic inequality making the country stand out for all of the wrong reasons? Blame people supposedly because of their laziness, and lower taxes for the wealthiest Americans, even if the rest of us have to pick up the tab for this. Are prices for healthcare, which are higher here in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and by far, too high? Let's double-down on "for profit" healthcare, so that the big money players make even more money off of us, and we lose still more of our quickly vanishing protections. Too many people behind bars in the "land of the free?" How about building still more prisons and taking away more of their rights and dignity, almost assuring incredibly high rates of recidivism? Gun violence getting you down? Let's get more guns on the streets, then. What could possibly go wrong?
Sometimes, I feel seriously ashamed to be an American. In this day and age, with the government that we have in Washington, that feeling sometimes feels incredibly strong, and very, very depressing. I am tired of these mindless debates, where facts do not matter, only opinions. What a country we live in.
Here is the original article that he posted, and which got me on this topic:
To Reduce Gun Violence, Arm All Americans BY CHARLIE MARTIN SEPTEMBER 1, 2019:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/we-must-take-effective-steps-to-reduce-gun-violence/?fbclid=IwAR2Cl1VNkYLnwIZtG2oxp5M6mdmdMt4fUJSPRWLVDVd44xXS8RlJ1tUGczY
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