The following thoughts occurred to me over the last few day, of which I claim no exclusivity.
Guns. We need our guns, in all their infinite variety. Why? To protect our lives, properties, and, as it is continually threatened, our liberty. That they give voice to our odious violent tendencies is immaterial. Without them we are as vulnerable as the naked in the forest. If the Jews of pre-war Europe had had the access we do to AK-47s and the like, would there have been any holocaust? The Tutsi of Rwanda? The Muslims of Yugoslavia? I'm not trying to be glib, but small arms, in the hands of an untrained, marginally led ( if at all ) group, is no match against blunt military force.
It's why the idea of Obama taking away the guns of all good Americans is deeply flawed. It not worth trying to do, certainly not during this age. One, it would require an act of Congress; no president would dare act unilaterally on something like that, and the idea that Congress would ban all firearms is a pipe dream. There's no political will to ban or severely restrict gun ownership. Two, it would require the military to do it if force is required, rather than if required by law that had been approved by Congress with the support of a majority of the American public, then it would be up to law enforcement, and I doubt they'd be thrilled with the prospect. Again, no political will or enough public support. Third, if it came to violent confrontation, assuming that American military personnel would be willing to fire on their own people; it would be a bloodbath. I don't care how many assault rifles you have or how much ammo; you be taken out by any means necessary. That's the way it is. Our armed forces are too powerful for the " people " to defeat. You're as likely to defeat them as the Palestinians of Gaza are of defeating the Israeli army. No politician is going to endanger the American democratic system or guns. And yet, people are hoarding guns and ammo because they're certain the " gubmint " is coming for their guns.
Then there's the chimera of possessing a concealed weapons permit and carrying on your person a concealed weapon. The wisdom is that you have the means to protect yourself in the event that you need to protect yourself; someone tries to rob you, you see a crime in progress, although I don't believe law enforcement cares much for the citizenry utilizing deadly force in stopping crimes they come across in the course of their daily lives; the possible exception being armed intruders, and, as stated above, protecting your personal liberty from the clutches of a " socialist " president and his administration. As I noted in an earlier blog, the ability to make this work is contingent on your being ever vigilant; ever watchful, and being able to calmly execute ( lovely term ) all actions necessary, which to my mind requires a reasonable amount of practice. That's what our celluloid heroes do. Fortunately, for them, it's all smoke and mirrors; unfortunately for those of us in the real world, it is not. While bad guys may come at you in an orderly fashion in film; they don't in real life. Just ask Julius Caesar. They did not come at him one at a time. It only takes a few to concentrate your focus and that's time enough for a shiv to find your back. Nor are most rabble going to confront you in such a way as to give you time to assuage the situation and present your firearm to shock and awe. If the bad guy has a weapon and he thinks your up to something, he probably shoot you the minute you put your hand in your jacket or pocket or wherever you have your weapon. If he doesn't have a weapon and see you brandish one, he'll flee. The law, other than in Texas, generally doesn't abide shooting someone in the back; even while fleeing an attempted crime.
The other compelling nostrum is that it gives you a sense of control in a world in which there is only so much you can have any control over. The horrors brought to our attention on the nightly news, or Internet, magnify this lack of control. One day he's just another guy; and men perpetrate these crimes by a wide margin, the next he's wandering through WalMart killing everyone he sees. Maybe you'll have time to pull out your weapon and take charge, but it doesn't happen very often if at all. If we have so many people armed to the teeth, why aren't these massacres stopped sooner? Maybe it's because all they want to do, like everyone else, is get out and find a place of safety. Vigilance is exhausting if you have to be on alert all the time, if everyone you come across, assuming you trust friends and family, is a potential enemy. Soldiers exposed to this over long periods of time get PTSD, or battle fatigue, or shell shock. My fear is that leads to the kinds of mistakes you can never take back; killing an innocent bystander. No amount of rationalizing will heal the wounded or bring back the dead. It also hardens the police, who must assume we're all packing. If I start flashing a gun, even with the best of intentions, how are the police supposed to distinguish me from the others flashing weapons. It's worth noting that in the violence of the Depression that in a lot of cases law enforcement shot first and asked questions later. Bonnie and Clyde didn't get a "stop or we'll shoot " shout out before being gunned down.
We live in a violent society. We seem to accept the fact that many choose to resolve conflicts with violence. Guns won't stop a determined killer unless people are ready for it; and as we've seen, many are not. I don't believe we should be. I don't want to believe that everyone around me is a potential killer, even though that's possible. It sucks the life out of you. Other than my children, there's nothing I have that's so important, or so necessary, or irreplaceable that I'd need to kill someone because of it. Most victims of gun violence, or violence in general, know the perpetrator. Random act of senseless violence I can't control. If one day someone comes up behind me and shoots me, it's unlikely I'll know anything before it happens. I do what I can to minimize those possibilities, but I can only control what I do.
I can have an arsenal of weapons, but I'm not going to go around armed to the teeth; someone will just call the cops. Or some other person with a concealed weapons permit might shoot me; certain they're protecting themselves from sure destruction.
As I said; I don't know how they save me, other than by happenstance or luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment