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yumeka36 · 6 years

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My thoughts on gun control

I rarely write posts like this...actually, I don’t think I ever have in all my years of blogging. But it’s a topic I have strong opinions on, and in light of current events, now more than ever I just have to express myself.

Yes, I’m among the group who thinks assault rifles should be banned. All guns are made to kill of course, but such weapons were made specifically to kill lots of people quickly, not to protect yourself domestically from a would-be robber (or bear depending on where you live) and there is no reason at all for average people to own such things. The only reason they could have is because they “like” them and consider it a “right” to own any gun of their choosing because of the 2nd amendment (more on that later). So if these are the only reasons, and it’s not like not having assault rifles would harm their quality of life or anything like that, why would they not be willing to give up a luxury if it could potentially prevent school shootings and other similar tragedies? They like to go back to the argument that murderers will always find other ways to kill people, which is definitely true, but guns, ESPECIALLY assault rifles, make it so, so much EASIER to kill lots of people quickly and efficiently, without drawing attention to yourself until it’s too late. Of course people will always find ways to kill other people, but if we’re allowing potential murderers to have this option so easily at their disposal, we need to seriously reconsider how important this “right” is. It’s a simple utilitarian way of looking at things: what are the pros of people having the right to own assault rifles? Besides pleasing gun enthusiasts, none that I can think of. And so what are the cons? Lunatics and murderers very easily and legally getting their hands on these things to indiscriminately kill lots of people. Looking at it this way, the answer is obvious. If I knew something I liked to collect was a very dangerous weapon that was causing so much tragedy because any average person like myself could obtain them, and banning such things could help prevent massacres from happening again, you’d have to be very selfish to value your hobby over the lives of countless others. Australia and other countries banned guns after mass shootings. Japan has some of the strictest rules and processes for buying and owning guns. And, no surprise, if you compare yearly homicide rates in these countries to the US, especially death by guns, the result is once again obvious.

The NRA will always try to say that the solution is either more guns, or another factor, like mental health. To the first point, making teachers carry guns is ridiculous. Even if a teacher had a gun on them at all times, you think, in the middle of a lesson or grading papers, they’re gonna have it ready to duke out against a mass shooter with an assault rifle versus their handgun? And you know how many uncouth kids will be able to get the guns away from the teachers when they’re not paying attention and, accidentally or not, shoot a fellow classmate? But if the teachers keep the guns locked away so kids can’t get to them, how the heck are they going to get to them in the event of a mass shooting? They’ll get shot down before they can even open the lock! Having armed guards and metal detectors at schools is more plausible; unlike teachers, armed guards will only have to focus on pinpointing and preventing potential shootings and nothing else. And of course mental health should be taken more seriously, but are you really going to identify a mentally ill person who’s potentially going to shoot up a school versus a mentally ill person who won’t? The odds of you diagnosing them in time, diagnosing them correctly, and taking measures to prevent their harmful actions are very slim compared to just preventing them from buying assault rifles. Oh, but while gun enthusiasts are pushing for mental health over gun control, they’re backing a president who supports a law to enable mentally ill people to buy guns! He also wants to decrease funding for mental illness too. Does this make any sense? Nope, but that’s the sorry state of our government right now.

People also fail to understand where the 2nd amendment even came from - after Americans won their freedom from the British, the founding fathers added it in so that citizens could arm themselves in case a tyrannical government were to rise up again. And of course, they were talking about muskets at that time. You know, those old guns that would take a few minutes to load and aim, and then, if you’re lucky, you might hit something. It did not stem from the idea that every trigger-happy, macho maniac should own machine guns and assault rifles just because it’s some kind of inherent “right,” and I’m pretty sure the founding fathers would have worded it differently if they knew what the future interpretation of “right to bare arms” would become. When a “right” is shown to cause more harm than good for society overall, it needs to change. That’s what an amendment is especially - it’s something that’s amended, or changed. If you go back in time several hundred years ago, people considered it their “right” to own slaves and would probably argue that their livelihoods would collapse if the slave industry was taken away. Of course it took some adjusting, but here we are, a more just country than we were back then. If we live in a society with other people, we have to make compromises, like giving up a petty attachment to murder weapons if it means potentially preventing massacres. The fact that one failed shoe bomb resulted in everyone taking their shoes off at the airport yet countless mass shootings at schools fail to get any sensible gun control laws passed shows how messed up our priorities are.

I, personally, don’t like guns, any kind of gun (except in video games!) They’re made to hurt and kill, and I don’t find that appealing. Having a gun or two in your house for protection is one thing, but If someone loves guns and collects them, I can’t help but think that they probably don’t just keep their gun collection lying around and want to use them for what they’re made for: to kill. And since it’s illegal to kill people, I’m sure they hunt and kill animals with their guns. I can’t imagine someone who gets pleasure inflicting pain and death on innocent creatures being a good person, but that’s just my opinion and a moral debate for another day. But even though I personally would want to eventually phase out most guns for average citizens, I also want to be realistic. We need to start small, like banning only assault rifles for now, having more restrictions for buying and owning guns, and implementing metal detectors in schools and other large public places. Countries like Australia and Japan are proof that gun control laws can lead to a safer society. As I said, people will always find ways to kill people. There’s no stopping that, but why give them easy access to things that make killing so much damned easier?

But..as much as I say these things, I’m not hopeful because the NRA is such a super powerful lobby in this country, and with our current administration that’s been taking millions upon million of dollars from them, there is no way the NRA is going to let them pass sensible gun laws, much less bans. Heck, nothing much has changed even with other school shootings from years ago, so with our current presidency, it’s even less likely. No matter how many children die via guns, the all-mighty dollar and some kind of blind, inherent “right” will keep prevailing. A little optimist in me still wants to hang onto hope though.