An email discussion erupted today amongst a bunch of buddies over the issue of guns, drugs, Mejicans, search and seizure, trophy animals, and somebody’s non-existent sex life… it was a somewhat broad discussion, though there was no talk of women’s dirty parts (we are all honorable men).
The concern was driven by an article profiling recent efforts by the ATF to track the origin of firearms used in Mejico during recent drug related shootouts between the cartels and the Mejican government. This tracking included house-to-house searches of people to whom the weapons could be traced. The discussion morphed into an argument about the right to bear arms, and a potential power grab by government by further restricting the right to own guns.
My two cents is that when guns are talked about as being a problem, what’s actually being talked about is “gun-related crime”. The operation of a gun, barring accidental discharge, requires the action of another being or mechanism (likely designed by another being). A gun by itself lying on the ground is nothing more than an inanimate object; it is incapable of picking itself up and firing itself toward another human being; it has no mind. So here’s your quote: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Cliché’? Yes. True? By all logical and obvious rationale, yes.
So, building on that concept, if it takes an individual to operate a gun then the real agent of gun related crime is in fact the criminal. Well, no shit. But let’s think about that for a second. An individual’s predisposition towards crime is his own, not the gun’s. If an individual were predisposed to crime, and guns were none existent, would the criminal not find another means of threatening, intimidating, and inflicting harm on another to force their will upon them?
Say we take away everybody’s guns in America. Does crime stop? How ‘bout a bow and arrow? Projectile weapon, threatens, intimidates, kills. How ‘bout a knife? Threatens, intimidates, kills. Brute force and a pair of rock hard fists? Threatens, intimidates, kills. There’s a name for what happens when you venture too far down the road of legislating morality, and limiting freedoms in the name of “protecting people from themselves”. It’s called a Police State.
No, I don’t think America is turning into a police state. But, what seems increasingly clear is our society is wanting of virtue. It seems there was once a time in this country when taking away the right to bear arms was nary an issue. That’s because the people were fully capable of policing themselves. Right and wrong had much clearer distinctions. People cared more about their family, their neighbors, and their communities.
We ought to care more about our families, neighbors, and communities. How can we expect the world to do right by us if we can’t do right by each other? I mean all we are saying is give peace a chance. (sparks a Mejican dube, Beatles play, fade to black…)
