Within the Margin

The old adage of the Beltway that Social Security is “the third rail of American Politics” may just be wrong. It seems as though the complex, neurotic and seemingly bizarre politics of guns, gun policy and anything involving the term “gun control” may well be the third rail, especially since the conversations, not even policy, seem to fry political discourse within moments.

I’m as guilty as many as simply avoiding gun politics unless it’s shoved into my face with the most recent of tragedies. They’ve happened time and again, and the call to action is almost always silenced in the long game of history. The tragedy at Newtown’s Sandy Hook School isn’t the first school shooting of the year, but it was the most gruesome. As the media was quick to point out, this was the 32nd school shooting since the massacre at Columbine High School. We’ve seen other massacres at all levels of schooling, and every time we react in a knee jerk way about our gun politics, and it has so far produced a record that’s pretty abysmal…maybe it’s time to start changing the overarching approach and when we actually have the gun conversation that’s so badly needed needed in this country.

The way we go about it now, responding to a tragedy with mass hysterics from the Left and Right should have ended on March 1st of 2000, the day after a school shooting in which the perpetrator and victim were 6 years old. Instead both sides of the gun spectrum cling to self-righteousness and petty arguments and responding with fear mongering (more especially on the pro-gun side of the equation who is continually convinced that specifically Liberals are coming to take their guns, and yet there’s nearly 300 million guns in the United States and it’s a safe bet that no “guns rights” activist can name a single instance in which a liberal, any liberal, has ever come and taken their gun without just cause) or blaming things we have no business blaming out of bias (video games, movies and music immediately spring to mind). We butcher the conversations that are needed in every single gun tragedy we immediately start throwing out rhetoric one way or the other about the Founding Fathers and the Founders intent, more on that later.

I’ve always found my own stance on guns at a conflict. While a pacifist, I can understand the wishes of some to own a gun to hunt (a noble endeavor) or to protect one’s home (an honored tradition whence the long time lawlessness of our nation is taken into account), I can even almost understand the wish to own guns for sport. On that last reason I don’t understand why one doesn’t just go to a shooting range and just use an assortment of firearms at the range to get their fill? Regardless, I’m also well aware of the argument made by so many who cite the 2nd amendment as a reason to purchase weaponry. This is the weakest of all arguments because the people who make the case have seemingly no idea of the full text of the amendment or its context within a historical perspective (which is very easy to attribute to the education system or just plain willful ignorance). However, the FULL Amendment reads:
“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.”
Between our myriad of police forces, sheriffs departments, state level police, federal agents of all sorts, and our Armed Forces, we have more levels of “well regulated Militias” than the founders could ever have dreamed. This is of course all my own opinion and more than open to healthy and open discussion.

It is my hope that this most recent tragedy actually brings about a real dialogue that is badly needed. There have been some encouraging and saddening signs already. I’d like to begin by promising friends and those with whom I’ll never agree with on political issues: Democrats and Liberals are not going to take the guns you have, not unless you give a reason to; it’s too damned much work honestly, we’d spend all our time just chasing games, remember I said there’s something like 300 MILLION guns. Now, that being said, can we please have a conversation about types of guns that can be sold and the size of cartridge magazines? I mean you can kill just as effectively with a 15 round clip for ANY weapon as you will with a 60 round clip…I’d almost be willing to accept the hunting argument with a 15 round clip, hell, 15 rounds is fun for the shooting range I’d bet. However, all I’ll wonder if you NEED a 60 round clip is “how many people are you looking to harm;” it’s beyond unnecessary. Likewise, I’m willing to settle on shotguns and handguns and hunting rifles with no argument…but no one needs an AR-15 or a Mac-10 to bring down a 10 point Buck or to stop the idiot looking to steal from your house, those are meant for one thing: killing. I’m not asking for much I don’t think, there’s much more that I want: closing the gun show loophole, thorough background checks, yearly inspection on the upkeep of the weapon and constant re-certification to own a gun, and pie in the sky dream of ending “Conceal-Carry” in this country.

I hope that the overarching view on guns in this country can change. We don’t need all out bans on all guns, but I think we can come together on re-establishing the Assault Weapons Ban and prohibiting the size of obnoxious sized magazines of ammunition. Unfortunately given the rhetoric of both sides since last week’s horrific events, I don’t think we’re ever going to have the actual constructive conversation that we need, we’ve desensitized ourselves to it by now, it’s seemingly impossible to think anything will change.

I don’t know what to think and have had a hard time with the news over the last week, I don’t know what to fight for as my hopes of vast changes on guns are met with the reality that is no small matter. A functioning and useful conversation is necessary…I’m just hopeful that we get to the table this time with all sides involved, even the idiots calling for arming teachers in school. At the same time, I fear we’ll never get to that table with everyone fair and openminded to change.