Issues Under Fire: Public Safety Vs. The Right to Bear Arms
When it comes to gun violence in America, it's an issue we'll all just have to get used to because disarming Americans is simply an impossibility. Americans have been raised from tots, that gun ownership is a God-given right. Any effort made by anyone to curtail access to firearms of any sort will be met with fierce opposition. Many thought the latest killing spree on a high school campus in Parkland Florida would have been a turning point, but they were wrong. Dead wrong. And that's a mystery that needs to be solved. But since one can only speculate, that's the only thing this post will do.
It shouldn't take a psychoanalyst, to consider fear as the primary driver for many American's need for guns. But fear of what or whom? If you've tried to understand a consistent narrative emanating from America's far right, Alt-Right, White supremacist types, you might notice a common theme of mistrust of the government. What if they had to defend themselves from tyranny? What if the race war they've been looking forward to finally started? What about the Muslims in this country? Islam and Christianity have been on a collision course for years in their minds. They must be able to protect their loved ones. They remember Waco, Ruby Ridge and more recently, the Bundy standoff.
While I suppose anything is possible, the threat of the United States government rounding up and relocating Americans to FEMA camps for some nefarious purpose just don't keep me up at night. However many see scenarios like this as a real possibility and they want to be prepared. So, they're stockpiling weapons and ammunition, with food and water for the long siege, they've suspected would happen one day. The guns Americans want aren't for hunting, they're for killing. And not whitetail deer, but people. The weapons of choice aren't meant for self-protection, they're for projecting overwhelming force, with maximum stopping power.
One has to wonder what goes on in the mind of those who feel the need to acquire an arsenal. Are they secretly hoping for some cataclysmic apocalypse where the world has been returned to the stone age? Will they have to wage an epic battle against hoards of hungry refugees and survivors of some nuclear holocaust? Or, will a war between the races do? A race war between Whites and Blacks has long been dreamed of by many amongst the gun enthusiast community. They chat about the possibility of a violent clash between the two cultures frequently and openly online. Some of this ilk can't wait for that final confrontation. And they want to be prepared.
On the other hand, many of these people just like guns. They like to shoot them for fun. They take pleasure in handling them. Cleaning them. Showing them off. After all, guns can make a weak man feel strong. Guns can make a timid man look like a badass you don't want to f*ck with. Guns can give a man a sense of power and confidence. He can stand his ground. He can take control. He can keep the peace. He can be a hero. But without the gun, that type of man is no man at all. Surely these people are living on the brink of madness, but they believe what they believe and nothing or nobody can change those beliefs.
Bottom line: If Americans turned on a cable news channel and heard hundreds of elementary school-aged children had just been massacred in a deadly shooting rampage, rabid supporters of the Second Amendment wouldn't shed a tear, share the sorrow or seek a solution. In their view, guns don't kill people, people kill people. When it comes to public safety vs. the Right to Bear Arms, the Second Amendment will win every time. It's the American way. Podcast below.
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