In the wake of the pre-Christmas massacre of 20 school children and 6 teachers and school officials in Connecticut, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre is once more being portrayed as TheGrinch who’s stealing the joys of the season.
Like the predictable blame-passing and pompous proposals that follow every natural catastrophe in the Philippines, shooting sprees in America staged by mentally unbalanced individuals, many of them in their teens, unleash a familiar torrent of protests against the easy availability in the U.S. of high-powered firearms, and proposals for stricter gun controls.
But the gun lobby in America and the attitude of Americans, as a whole, are more powerful than the grief of parents and the citizenry. It is unlikely that any legislation that will tend to deprive Americans of the right to keep and bear arms, enshrined in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, will gain any traction.
What could happen is less resistance from opponents of gun control to laws restricting purchase and ownership of high-powered automatic weapons. That has already happened in California, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the US.
To purchase a handgun in California, one has to have a Handgun Safety Certificate obtained by passing a written test. Private sales of firearms must be done through a licensed dealer and handguns sold by dealers have to be listed in a roster of weapons certified for sale.
Firearms sales are recorded by the state and require a ten-day waiting period. Most of all, the California State Constitution does not
explicitly guarantee an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. However, many of California’s gun laws are being challenged in the US Supreme Court, based on the Second Amendment.
In many other states of the Union, the sale and purchase of firearms, including assault weapons, is unrestricted. People may carry concealed weapons and even openly carry them.
This could explain why the US leads the world in terms of gun violence. According to media reports, compared to 11 homicides in 2008 in Japan, which does not allow private ownership of guns, except those for hunting and sports (and only after stringent clearance procedures), the U.S, had 9,484. Records indicate that California and six other states with the strictest gun laws rank among the top ten states with the lowest per capita rates of gun deaths.
But despite overwhelming empirical evidence that restrictions on gun ownership result in a reduction of gun violence and deaths, America’s macho culture – routinely glorified in Hollywood Westerns and Rambo films – simply had a reverse effect on the citizenry following the massacre in Connecticut.
Reacting to news that stricter gun laws would make it more difficult for Americans to buy firearms, especially high-powered ones, the sale of these weapons have gone through the roof. Inventory in many gun stores has run low. Like folks stocking up on foodstuff in anticipation of a hurricane, people have been rushing to buy their weapons before the laws make it difficult to do so.
Their attitude, it seems, is that, if there are crazed gunmen roaming the streets, they had better be in a position to protect themselves. Thus, the race to stock up on firearms.
NRA’s LaPierre couldn’t have stated this attitude more clearly when, in response to the outcry against gun violence, he proposed posting police and armed security guards at schools.
“Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses — even sports stadiums — are all protected by armed security.
“We care about the President, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices su rounded by armed Capitol Police officers.
“Yet when it comes to the most beloved, innocent and vulnerable members of the American family — our children — we as a society leave them utterly defenseless, and the monsters and predators of this world know it and exploit it. That must change now!”
Refusing to concede that the proliferation of guns is one of the root causes of gun violence, LaPierre also passed the buck to another bogeyman:
“There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?
“Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like ‘American Psycho’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ that are aired like propaganda loops on ‘Splatterdays’ and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it ‘entertainment.’…A child growing up in America witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18.”
The reaction to LaPierre’s proposal was one of derision, as reported in US media. Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia called LaPierre’s
proposal of armed guards in schools “insane” and added that the man “had clearly watched too many old Westerns.” Mayor Bloomberg of New York called LaPierre’s speech “a shameful evasion of the crsis facing our country.”
It is obvious that the proponents of stricter gun laws and those against them are digging in and hanging on to their rationales, shutting their ears to the arguments of either side. And that is the tragedy following the massacre.
Among those with whom I have discussed the senseless killings, no one has conceded that both President Obama and LaPierre have a point. Obama has proposed stricter gun laws. LaPierre wants armed guards in schools and public places and controls on the pervasive culture of violence propagated by media and the entertainment industry.
I recall the wild and wooly days back in Manila before the declaration of martial law, when everyone and his uncle carried a gun. That included me. It was part of the macho culture. It was reminiscent of LaPierre’s rationale: carry a gun to protect yourself from crazy gun wielders.
Then one day, while accompanying my wife to Divisoria, a burly man bumped her. Whether or not he did it on purpose did not matter to me. I instinctively reached for my gun. Mercifully, I stopped to think: Am I going to shoot someone FOR THIS? Suddenly, my gut reaction made absolutely no sense. It was the fact that I had a gun that caused me to react the way I did. I realized that I was about to become the crazy gun wielder that I needed protection from.
The next day, I left the gun in the house and never took it out again.
It’s simple logic: No guns in the house within easy reach means that the crazy Adam Lanzas will have no weapons for mass killings and impulsive macho men like Rolito Go will have no gun to use on defenseless motorists.
On the other hand, until someone has a brighter idea to protect America’s school children, doesn’t it make sense to shield them the way America protects the nation’s president? And LaPierre is right. A daily dose of killings in video games and on TV and films will continue to raise generations of potential Adam Lanzas. And one day, something’s got to give.
Meanwhile, how many of us bought toy guns for our kids this Christmas?
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