Featured Blog: Looking at the “gun-ho” attitudes, rhetoric of gun proponents
Every time anything resembling a “mass shooting” occurs in the U.S. today, social media consumers are greeted with a familiar article from The Onion that inevitably gets shared by jaded critics, Facebook users and more.This isn’t an original article; switch a few words in and out, change some names and quotes around and you have the same story that the satirical website posts every few weeks.Certain topics and points of discussion come up every time another gun death comes along. Continue reading, if you will.Stuff Happens“Stuff happens,” Jeb Bush said.This is an absurd response to the recent shooting in Oregon. When this becomes the norm, America has to be reminded that there is a problem. When the numbers look like this (10,644 gun-involved deaths as of Oct. 21), even if they are part of a general decline in gun violence (as of 2013, the gun homicide rate is down 49 percent since 1993), there is still reason for concern. A passionate desire for change is only human.Mental Illness“It’s not a gun problem, it’s a mental illness problem.”Sid Robertson is loved for saying, “It ain't gun control we need; it's sin control.”And how about former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee?“We have not so much a gun problem, we have a problem with sin and evil,” he said.Some people call it a “sin” problem. Maybe it’s worth venturing to say it’s an all-around problem that is fueled by too easy-access to too high-caliber ammunition, or too few checks in place to access such weapons.It’s a Constitutional RightThere are a lot of constitutional rights. Rights are created over time and also infringed upon. The right to bear arms was written into the Bill of Rights to ensure that a tyrannical government could not overtake its citizens, and so that people could protect themselves. Can people stop pretending that it means unrestricted access to guns and opposition to any possible checks that could be put in place? Aren’t some worthy of consideration?The More Guns There Are, The Safer We AreThere are so many examples from gun proponents and opponents/reformists who claim that more guns mean more safety because everyone would fear the possibility that others have guns. It seems that operating out of a place of fear is obviously “healthy” for a society. I’m not against everyday people owning guns for hunting and self-protection. That’s silly. Proposed legislation in the U.S. to address particular aspects of gun ownership hardly ever address guns on this simple level. It couldn’t happen anyway.There’s Nothing We Can Do About It, People Are Bad*Bangs head against the table*You Cannot Take Guns ... If People Wanted To, They Could Use Knives or Something ElseIs it easier to kill dozens of people with a variety of knives or with a firearm capable of firing off dozens of rounds in just a few seconds?Fear Mongering About Tyrannical AbusesSee: constitutional rightsPoliticizing TragedyWhen is it a good time to politicize issues? When they are not present in people’s minds? Is a cooling-off period necessary? There is also the confluence of this idea of the constitutional right, and an extremely strong gun lobby that does everything in its power to scare monger politicians who might try to change gun laws. Said politicians are often afraid to even utter the idea of reform. This is most evident in moderate Democrats in Western/Southern conservative states. Such politicians will speak of their liberal record while disavowing any anti-firearm mentality, as well as any connections to President Barack Obama.Why Are We So “Gun-Ho” About Guns?I’m by no means a big anti-gun person, but I am incredibly uncomfortable with a sizable portion of the population seeming to revere the idea of a right to bear arms more than human rights. It’s disturbing. Can we please stop this and consider that there might be some steps to take that can limit the amount of violent deaths in which firearms are used?---Here are three pieces about gun control that are relevant to the issue at hand.