The Politics of Gun Control
I’m a big skeptic of Gun Rights. And I’m a big skeptic of Gun Control, too. I don’t like being on the fence, but here I am…
Like most subjects of main stream media sensationalism, the MSM talking idiots have worked the gun control/gun rights issue overtime the past week…hyping our fear, playing to our mass emotion instead of our mass intellect.
Innocent people dying on a public campus — be it college or the Johnson Space Center — pinches an emotional nerve. We should relish the fact that it shocks us, because that’s a clue we’re still human. When the murder of innocent people no longer shocks us (over 500 innocent people die in Iraq in an average week, too), then we should reassess what type of species evolution is making of us.
Good Guns, Bad Guns
There were other gun deaths last week that most people in America didn’t hear too much about:
- Tuesday night, two regular guys walking home from a bar in Minneapolis were robbed of their wallets, then totally unnecessarily made to get on their knees and shot execution style in the head.
- On Wednesday night, three armed robbers stormed into a home in Kansas City. The owner managed to kill one of the robbers with the criminal’s own gun.
- At 9:37 Thursday night, 22-year-old Allen Joseph Hicks II walked into an Oakland pizza parlor, pointed an assault pistol at the owner, and said, “This is a robbery.” With his wife, son, and two daughters looking on, the owner pulled out his own pistol and killed the robber.
- Friday morning in Portland, a 75-year-old man shot his wife. He’d always taken good care of her while she suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease. He called 911, then shot himself before police arrived.
- Early the same morning, Baylor University senior Charles Franklin accidentally shot himself to death at an off-campus party.
Gun Fight or Flight Response
National headline gun violence seems to trigger a societal fight or flight response. So many people are either begging their government to take everybody’s guns away, or begging everybody to carry a gun as a deterrent. But simplistic emotional knee jerk reactions often waste a lot of time and energy, and cause a lot of people to jump through hoops and suffer without solving the original problem. Many times, poorly planned reactions make the situation worse.
The Gun Control camp can show tons of statistics linking gun ownership to increased American death rates.
The Gun Rights camp can provide a ton of equally valid statistics showing why gun ownership is a good thing.
There are many sides to the gun issue, and I don’t see a hands-down winner.
Sometimes, School Massacres Just Happen
Remember the good old days when American kids prayed in school, didn’t sneak in drugs or guns, and were always as safe as a Norman Rockwell painting?
If you do, you’re forgetting the deadliest act of mass murder in U.S. school history: The Bath School Massacre in Bath Township, Michigan. On May 14, 1927, an upset school board member detonated dynamite inside the school, killing 45 people — mostly children in second to sixth grades.
Sometimes a tragedy just happens. Sometimes there’s no feasible action anybody could have taken to predict or prevent it.
Read More: gun control, second amendment, Bath school disaster
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April 23rd, 2007 at 6:42 am
As with many other things in this country, we have come to the “win at any cost mentality”, on this subject. No middle ground, either everyone is armed to the teeth, or destroy every gun. In sports you just don’t win, run that score up as high as you can. Pick any issue that is confronting us today, and you will find two sides dug into trenches and fighting tooth and nail for their belief. Neither side willing to give an inch to find a solutioin. It’s either my way or no way at all.
And so it goes, a lot of rhetoric from both sides, with nothing accomplished, except a lot of hot air to aid in global warming.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:26 am
I grew up in a lot of small western towns. Not everyone knew everyone or everyones business (myths again). But, we all kept an eye out. We all were entertained by Jimmy, the local crazy kid, who seemed almost normal sometimes and at other times had uncontrollable fits or was always dragging the hood of a car around or some other piece of junk for one of his special projects. It was like when that Indian got chased up on top of the gas pump by my dog “Sailor Boy Shep”. I don’t think the guy did anything, but my dog seemed ready to eat him. Then there was the guy who made all the brightly colored wooden wind toys that spun on his fence and in his yard. My brother told me he had reached into his pants once, so I told him to stay away from him. Then there was the real nice guy who had been run over by a car when he was young. We didn’t know he was special until we got a bit older and he would rub his beard on our cheeks when he said goodby…but it never led to anything bad.
Well, Jimmy became a sort of famous inventor. I don’t know if he ever hurt anyone. My dog got put to sleep. The wind machine man got a visit from the cops because I told my mom and she told others…and I don’t know what ever happened to him if anything.
And the beard guy actually got married and is still married 30 years later and is still a real nice guy.
Everyone I knew had guns. I got my BB gun at age 6 right on schedule. I went right out and shot an Elf Owl who then lay blinking at me. Mom made me shoot it dead. So through my tears, I pumped my BB gun and fired time after time until his eyes closed. That was the last time I shot any live thing until adulthood and then only for food.
We heard once in awhile that someone had shot someone or accidentally shot himself. It reinforced our safety awareness. It didn’t make us put our guns away. Mom’s didn’t threaten Dads over it. Sure once in awhile a BB got away and we had to buy a neighbors window. Me and a friend even had “below the waist” BB gun fights until we changed the rules to “below the shoulders” and he hit me in the cheek and I quit that game.
We just lived life. We knew thwere were risks, but we never considered taking all our dangerous toys, tools, etc. away and living life in a bare room. Still don’t.
But we mostly had fathers then. Mom’s were equally there, but in learning and dealing with a man’s stuff, you need a Dad to raise that part of you. Contrary to modern thought…woman cannot raise men. At least not alone.
Unfortunately, women have too big a say. Their protective nature now trumps the mans “pushing the boundries” nature in us. We are now reactive sheep. Bolting at strange scents in the wind…bolting at the breeze its self. Simple afraid to live.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:00 am
Pelmo: Sometimes I think we do accomplish coming up with a good plan, but then throw it out because it’s badly implemented. You’ve got firsthand experience…as a former law enforcer, did you think the current gun laws were being implemented well (I’m just thinking about the Virginia Tech gunman being sold a couple of guns even though he had a troubled psychological record…)
Xman: I also think a balance between male/female parents is the best mix for a child’s development, HOWEVER…some very balanced and wonderful adults have been raised by single moms, single dads, and same-sex couples. Of course, there are other factors, too…a kid’s mom doesn’t have to be married for the kid to have a strong male role model around, and vice-versa with a single father parent. And I’ve seen some very tough-loving moms and some too-caring too protecting fathers. But, for the most part I agree…a kid benefits from the usual caring that comes from a female and the usual risk-taking a father nurtures.
As for the characters you grew up around in the west, just shows that you can be strange AND a safe member of society. I’m still pondering whether you can be a politician and be a safe member of society though…
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hey babe!
I thought you would appreciate the following article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/afghanistan_flag_complaint_2
Xman,
Did some lady just dis you? You sure do sound angry at women.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
Jodi: Thanks for the link…I’m so glad somebody from the military finally said this. Xman was just bringing this up a few days ago: Xman comment link. It’s sad that any college-age kid dies, but if we’re going to raise the flag to half mast for a college-age kid that just happened to be in the path of a psycho’s bullet, we darn well ought to give at least the same honor to a college-age kid who spilled blood on foreign soil “fighting terrorists there so we don’t have to fight them here.”
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I once sent a felon back to a federal pen for five years in a federal courtroom since he was on federal parole. And once, because of shure stupidity on the defendants part he ended up with 90 days in jail, because he was incarcerated and kept asking for continuances. In all other gun cases, the defendants pleaded guilty the next day and got two days, timed served.
No, the laws we have now are a joke, and no matter how many times they get locked up, those two days or probation will be always be the sentence.
I laughed as I saw simple drug offenders getting serious hard time, while burglars, armed robbers and car thieves hitting the street before I was finished in court for the day.
On a different matter, very interesting 2 part article in today’s and tommorow’s Chicago Sun-Times in regards to Obamas real estate dealings here in Chicago. I think you might find it interesting reading on how things are done up here.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Hey Jodi,
Nah, not recently “dis’d”.
I guess I was making an argument (poorly) that in my experience (and I should have related some) that some of the weird kids I knew, didn’t have Dad’s around.
I accept all of Joe’s exceptions of course. I saw exceptions too. But, I just noticed a lot of Mom’s who didn’t act like Dad’s, in raising their sons…and it created some weird situations. Like Mom’s who fixed the hair of their sons too much. I remember her spitting on his hair to plaster it down. (Maybe it was Wolfie). Some didn’t foster/support their boyish tendancies like fishing, rodeo, exploring. I remember one guy whose Mom gave him the facts of life speech in 7th grade. He already knew quite a bit since they kept pigs (ever see pigs mate?…you’ll never forget it). I still remember him throwing a 1 pound box of chocolates at this girl as she was getting on her school bus. It skipped along the ground for a good 30 feet and came to a smacking halt against her foot (he could of been a pitcher) and her just looking down in surprise and some other emotion as we all watched Alvin’s disappearing back as he ran away shouting “Happy Valentines Day”.
Turns out she was my girlfriend, a preachers daughter. I remember asking Alvin later, why he didn’t just hand them to her with a note or something. His brain was just always in a cramp. I figured not having a Dad around was partly to blame. I have always hoped he got it together later and he got his girl. She was the most beautiful in school.
Nothing scientific. Just sharing thoughts.
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
The gun issue IS extremely complicated. As someone who has lived many years in the inner-city, but also resided for a number of years in the twigs (as in, even more country than the sticks) — I really believe all of the urbanites and the rural types and especially the folks in between, need to sit down and talk this out. So far, I’ve concluded that:
1. Sometimes when you live in the country, you need a gun (NOTE: not necessarily a rocket launcher) — like when a pack of coyotes gets really pissed off at your dog and surrounds your house.
2. There is a lot of gun violence in the city. People get understandably edgy about this issue.
3. Whether it’s the country or the city, it really, really, really, REALLY sucks to have a gun pulled on you.
4. When I’ve had guns pulled on me, I didn’t have a gun. I talked my way out of it. On some of those occasions, if I’d had a gun on me, I would have shot the other guy. Would it have been justifiable? I guess, but I’d still have a dead or maimed person on my conscience.
So I don’t know … please don’t withdraw my right to bear arms, but can’t we at least train people better? You have to take a paper and range test to get a driver’s license, what’s wrong with having the same expectations with guns? (My friend Pauly’s idea…)
X-Man, I may just have to blog about that Pandora’s box you’ve opened…
(You have a point, but why blame the person who stuck around to fulfill their responsibilities.)
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:48 pm
La Sirena,
Right on, about the coyotes and other varmits in the country. If you’ve never had a bear trying to get in your cabin then you don’t know if you like guns or not (I tell that to city folks or gun banners). Read a long time ago that based on population, country has more violence (people to people violence) than the city. I’ve always wondered if alcoholism was up there too. Country life is a hard life sometimes. It isn’t a magazine cover.
As for carrying a justified killing around on your conscience: There is a fairly universal country saying that comes to mind. “Some folks just need killin” (which was the universal country feeling when the cops got killed in the Claude Dallas thing. Everyone agrees he was a rough guy, but so was the deputy…worse even…and he shouldn’t have pushed so hard. The junior deputy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time). But, there is a whole lot about country life that would shock the sensibilities of suburban folks.
btw, I think in most states, one has to attend a series of Hunters Safety courses in order to get a hunting license. Definately, to get a concealed permit one has to attend special classes (I did). Again, this is where Dad’s come in real handy. In my era, roles were more traditional. But each parent got credibility based on their skills. Now, I think parents have more skills in common than they used to. Some Mom’s have business credibility and some Dad’s do the cooking.
btw, I’ve always had guns and never pointed at anyone (except the BB gun fights)…and have talked others out of theirs too. Thrilling using your wits to their max capacity, ain’t it?
I seem to dig myself deeper while trying to get out of the hole. I don’t intend to blame women for their roles at all…in fact applaud anyone who fights to do a good job. Merely expressing that each sex comes to the table with their strengths and weaknesses. If you do a blog on the subject, don’t forget to include the unfairness in the application of the custody laws. While many states have fair rules, in practice, they are not applied equally. Which does lead to a lot of frustration for fathers and why some do shirk their responsibilities. Not saying it is right. Just saying to change things, we have to understand them first.
The whole reason of my original post of course, was in just thinking about what might have caused the VT kid to derail so badly. It is amazing the things that grab your attention as you are developing. Sometimes your mind just goes down a path and there is no way back.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Hi XMan!
I’m glad you were not dissed, because you seem like a nice enough guy. I guess I would kind of agree with you, since My brother and I were mostly raised by my very nuturing mother, I turned out okay, but my brother is a raving lunatic (just kidding Mike). Acutally he is one of the sweetest, most sensitive guys I know… I guess your theory backfired on him! ;) I wonder what life would have been like had we been raised by Apes?
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Wow, there’s some really deep commenting going on for a Monday…and I love reading this stuff, getting all the viewpoints…awesome.
Pelmo: I found a link to that story: Obama and his Rezko ties. More and more I think it’s impossible to have a presence on the national political scene without getting involved in some major hypocricy along the way…money corrupts, and you need the money to get elected these days. Second half of the story tomorrow should be interesting…
La Sirena: you’re sooooo right, the gun issue is very complicated. I’ve hashed a ton of statistics supporting both sides, and I swear, I can’t find a good answer to the problem. For sure, requiring people to be better trained before they buy one would certainly have to help. On the other hand, if you’ve got a rash of rabbits eating up your garden all of a sudden and you just want to grab a shotgun quick…not being able to do so without training isn’t a huge loss, but it is loss of a freedom we should consider. Maybe just require training for handguns and assault rifles…as Xman says, I think there’s already laws in most states for this type of thing…just a lot of lapses in enforcing them, and as Pelmo said, actual time served for gun violations is light compared with posession of marijuana…
Xman: don’t edit; keep the stream of conscious coming, no matter how much hot water you encounter ;-) I will vouch on your behalf that custody laws are lagging when it comes to father’s rights. I am so lucky that when my first wife ditched me (don’t get me started…) she did try to do things right by the kids, and we (and later, their two step parents) both share custody equal time. I have since realized how lucky I was, because here in Alabama, the default custody is still only every-other-weekend with the father.
Overall, women have suffered more than their share of equal rights violations, but just in this one area, child custody, that’s one area women still get the benefit of the doubt that they’re the better parent, and men are, for the most part, assumed to be deficient.
But when you think about it, that’s a small price for us guys to pay for being the smarter sex. HahhahAHhahha JUST JOKING!!! Ouch! (that’s “ouch” in advance for when my wife reads this and slugs me…)
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
While researching one of my novels, I came across Kehoe’s story and even though I couldn’t even remotely use it in my novel, the story stayed with me. It’s like something out of a Jerry Bruckheimer or Sean Cunningham movie.
You’re right in saying there are two sides to gun control/gun rights. Obviously, having a gun has saved some innocent peoples’ lives, like that Oakland pizza shop owner. But consider how traumatized his children were in watching their father kill a man before their very eyes.
That homeowner whose house was invaded: If he’d had a gun in the house, his chances of being killed would’ve been increased by a factor of 2.7.
Yet the police cannot be there when and where we need them at any time, one could advance a plausible argument that guns are necessary for personal protection.
However, the NRA’s argument using a home invasion is virtually baseless. An Emory University professor once did a study of about 500 homes in which a fatality had occured. He found out that out of those hundreds of homes, home invasions by strangers accounted for just over three percent of the fatalities. Most gun-related homicides are crimes of passion where the victim knew their killer.
I’m convinced through personal experience that most people shouldn’t be in possession of firearms. Having a loaded gun in your hand, to quote Homer Simpson, makes people feel like God with a gun. And the last time I checked, most people weren’t qualfied to play God.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Jodi, dear, love of my life ;-) Yes, that IS a good point about Mike…Mike is a really sweet sensitive guy, and probably not the guy people who don’t know him are picturing right now…no, Mike’s not a sissy…he plays a mean guitar, works in nuclear energy, can fix the automobiles of us folks who just never felt comfortable doing small engine repair sort of stuff…but Mike’s a good example of a single person who has the whole father/mother package in one entity. On the other hand, most people aren’t like Mike, and most men and women fit into the more stereotypical rolls…not everybody, but most.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Thanks Joe,
Trying to stay constructive and not loose reception.
More on the parental rights subject:
I used to go to family court when I was in law school. I was and still am bad in front of crowds, so figured I’d need practice for moot court, etc.
One startling thing I noticed in custody type hearings was that the parents seemed to act as if they ‘owned” their kids instead of were just in “custody” of them…until such time as they reached adulthood and then “owned” themselves. A surprising number of women said that they had “more” rights than the man, since they “carried and gave birth” and the man did nothing but “contribute sperm”. I was always stunned by that argument and never saw a man respond with anything equally amazing in his defense. Luckily, the judge always ignored such staements. But, I do believe it is a somewhat commonly held belief. I can imagine all sorts of reasons for holding such a belief, but it certainly never served to bring the temperature of the room down when it was expressed. And of course, the argument was not made in the interest of the child.
If you have never sat for days on end in family court, I suggest the experience. You may walk in objective, but have a hard time walking out the same way.
Hey Jodi,
It really isn’t my “theory”. Just an observation. Very happy to hear about your little bro. But found it interesting that “good” as defined by you is “sweet and sensitive”. Those are words that give a woman comfort. Unfortunately, they are also used to impose on men what we “should” be like, behave like”. etc,. Not once in my life have me and the guys ever sat around saying good things about one or the other of us and used “sweert and sensitive” in a complimentary way. It is the “balance” that Joe mentioned earlier that is impossible to achieve without proper input. A cake is not a cake if it has sugar and no flour. Again, making no personal criticism of your Mom or Brother. You already made me admire them both…and you too ;-)
April 24th, 2007 at 10:54 am
XMAN-
Joe hates it when I call him sweet too! Sunshine really gets me in trouble! And he had both parents raising him! :)
JOE-
Don’t get on to me for telling… LOVE YOU!!! You are SO not sweet. :)
April 24th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Ughhhh….sweeeeet…..sunshine……honey, if you saw me now, you wouldn’t think it. I was feeling fine this morning, then about half way to work I started doing that, “Am I sick? Am I just imagining it?” Then, I went on to work and had a quandry…I WAS sick, stomach flu hit fast, and it was a 20-30 minute drive back home. So, I waited till after 8:00, for the school traffic to clear, then made a run for it. As luck would have it, about 5 miles from the house, I got behind a flatbed truck hauling septic tanks to a new subdivision…going about 20 mph. That was one long ride. But, I made it home without spewing all over the car, and just in time, too…and then I woke up about 20 minutes ago and called Ralph on the big porcelain telephone again. So, I’m in the that in-between-the-waves of nausea period right now where I feel good for a little while, but I feel like another wave is gonna be just around the corner…all the symptoms of a 24-hour stomach bug. I hope that was enough information for everybody, hope you all enjoyed that :-)
April 24th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Geez, Joe,
I’m getting the vapors through the power of suggestion. Oh, never mind, I brought some of the horse stall in on my feet.
Jodi, just don’t call him “cupcake”. You could try a good old country “what’s up buttercup?” and see what his tolerance level is…but as with any experiment, it’s a good idea to stand slightly back from the subject.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Joe, I hope you feel better. Eeiiiww…
Xman, I’ve been to family court. Ugghh! I had a client whose kids were placed in foster care — not fair in that case, in my opinion.
I, too, find it disgusting when people treat their children like a possession (or a commodity). I’ve worked very hard to negotiate with my son’s dad outside of court, because I don’t think the court should have any say over my family. Since we were never married, we’ve been afforded this luxury — also, we both know our son needs both of us.
That said, I do secretly believe that I have a stronger attachment to my son because I carried him and gave birth to him, etc. I would not hesitate to blow someone away to protect him. When I think he’s in danger or someone’s messing with him, my ears ring and I see red. I’m sure it’s the same for his dad, so I would never tell him or my son what I secretly know to be true — my bond is greater. :-)
April 25th, 2007 at 7:14 am
Ahhhh…feeling a bit better, I ate an entire saltine cracker this morning and it has stayed down for over twenty minutes…I may be in the clear. That was some quick-hitting, nasty virus…yuck!
About that motherly bond ;-) Not to lump every mother and father into the same categories, but in general I think mothers bond more on an emotional-feelings level, and fathers bond on a more logical-instructive level, and though they’re different types of bonds, they’re equally strong in time (I also think mothers bond quicker…right away, while men take longer and tend to have more of an initial “it eats, it poops, is it human?” reaction to babies. But over time, a father’s bond can become as strong as a mom’s.)
So, where a mother cares more about the feelings and nurtures a baby, a father may be less feely, more instructive, but his actions come out of as much love and as much of a bond as the mother’s. For instance, if you see a mother bird cuddling her young in a nest, you think, Awwww…they’re bonded. And if you saw a father bird kick the bird out of the nest, you initially think, how cruel. And yet, if the father didn’t kick the bird out of the nest, it would never learn to fly…that sort of sums up father love to me…the bond is there, it’s just more of a “if you love somebody, help them be independent and set them free into the world” type of love, where a mom’s love seems more…not clingy, but more “wrap your arms around them and smother them in good feelings” type of love. Anyway, that’s my $0.02.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Good 2 cents Joe.
Won’t argue with you since initially, I think you are correct. My first thoughts of my daughter were that she was dyed the color of grape juice and had beady little rat eyes. Doesn’t mean under that initial rush of feelings of “mystical/wonder afraid to break it, not want to shock it, wow, this is me, look at those little fingers, is that normal?, what a strange but wonderful smell”, there wasn’t also a very fierce instinct to protect. I just hadn’t been tested yet.
La Sirena,
I think initially it is good we secretly feel we each are the best parent. It keeps us looking out for “unsafe” areas/things. I know in my case my wife had to make the transition from her first “baby” (yep, that’s how she put it…about her dog), to our daughter. Dog dander all over hell was no problem for her and it became a real issue when I insisted that we reduce it and other dog born things. She simply didn’t get it. But, I have to admit, I just didn’t get some of her concerns. I learned to live with them, but still think she was overdoing it. The real hard part was the mother in law, though! Our house was filled with stacks of books/tapes and her shrill alarmist bulk, trumpeting out every bit of alarm and wisdom known to man, real and imagined.
On bonding: I can tell you it wasn’t long to bond. I think it only took a flicker of imagined recogntion from my daughter. Maybe just a squeeze of my index finger. Maybe it was the time we were driving down the road, her in her car seat…and I looked over and found her looking at me…and as soon as she caught my eye, she made some sort of noise and kicked her feet. I really knew it when she wanted to try anchovies. I put a little pea sized piece in her mouth and she made a face like oatmeal cereal boiling. Her whole face moved/contorted. She looked at me through tear filled questioning eyes and I said “I eat ‘em” as I shrugged my shoulders and she made motions and noises for more. That’s my girl!
I did accidentally leave the dog tied up outside the grocery store a few times and came home alone, but I never did that to my daughter.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I liked your two cents Joe. Well put.
Xman — good story. My dad always got me to eat INTENSE foods. I could quite happily eat anchovy olives like candy all day long.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
What’s all this anchovy talk about? That’s really weird, because I just introduced my 11-year-old to sardines a few weeks ago (he was asking what they were, so we bought a can…) There’s gotta be a dad gene that makes fathers feel pride and joy when their children eat gross foods with them. I’ll put sashimi and sucking crawdad heads on the future menu…