Issues Under Fire: Guns & Violence is the American Way

 

Issues Under Fire: Guns & Violence is the American Way

As the tears flowed watching the body count mount, another uniquely American tragedy is once again bleeding across the nation's headlines. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC provided minute by minute accounts of the victims' suffering and loss. The visuals of bullet riddled bodies sprawled across the pavement, supported with stories of heroic acts of courage by total strangers saving lives, kept viewers around the world spellbound. If you had a heart, you couldn't turn away, let alone change the channel.

The deadly carnage was unequaled by anything America or the world had seen before. Hundreds were butchered by bullets raining down from the sky. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The killer had prepared to make history and he did. According to an ABC News headline, authorities found 23 guns and multiple loaded high capacity magazines in the hotel room. By the time the killer was done, the lives of thousands had been changed forever. Unfortunately, all we can do is morn the dead and support the survivors, because we all know this will happen again, again and again. 

America cut its teeth on guns and violence. As a culture, many Americans feel the right to bear arms was granted by God and will cling to them no matter what the cost. If 20 elementary school children and six teachers could be slaughtered by gun violence in their classrooms, it's safe to presume this latest bloodbath will garner the same American reaction: The Left will launch renewed efforts to legislate tighter gun laws and the Right will respond with the 2nd amendment argument. The Right will win the argument. They always do.

Charlton Heston infamously said, "I'll give you my gun when you pry (or take) it from my cold, dead hands." This statement was popularized by the National Rifle Association on a series of bumper stickers. The love and fascination with guns in America is unparalleled any place else on this planet. Many Americans wouldn't leave home without being strapped. They brag about sleeping with a gun under their pillows. Some don't feel fully dressed without a gun on their hip or easily retrieved from a purse. They're convinced that if something goes down, a gun is the answer. That's the reason guns are so easily obtained.

Nevada has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country. The right to bear arms is seared into the state's constitution. "Every citizen has the right to bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes." In Nevada, you don't even need a permit to buy a gun and there's no limit on the number of guns a person can buy at one time. And get this, it's legal to own assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for ammunition. If you think this through, it's a wonder incidents like this don't occur more often. 

Bottom line: One would have to be a stone cold S.O.B. not to shed a tear or two for the pain and suffering of the innocent victims in this latest American massacre. But to allow those tears to blur the reality that another one of these uniquely American tragedies could be only days away, is even more tragic than the event itself. Podcast below.