Some thoughts on guns

Is it all politics?

Ninety-nine percent of the time, political discourse boils down to a Left vs. Right, us vs. them mentality. It's all about proving one side is right or that the other side is wrong. There seems to be a stronger pull towards this tendency than towards efforts to find common ground, compromise, or practice true critical reflection. This saddens me deeply because this indicates that by-and-large we don't listen to the other and we seem to prefer division. No one seems comfortable outside of their echo chambers anymore. Our personal views are infallible and dissenters are the enemy.

With this said, I must confess that I am moderately conservative, finding myself much more frequently in agreement with conservative principles than progressive ones. However, I can't in good faith maintain an unflinching loyalty to a political ideology regardless of circumstances. If we're honest, we have to always be willing to evaluate and sometimes modify our views in light of new information or changing environments. When it comes to guns, this is the position I find myself in now.

Gun ownership rights have never been a major issue to me, at least personally. I don't own guns myself, but I don't have an issue with people owning them. I'm not a fan of the NRA and I don't think the 2nd Amendment is inerrant. However, until recent years I've been reluctant to endorse major government restrictions on gun ownership. I can't say this is true about myself anymore. I can't keep viewing this as a talking-point political issue; in my mind, it has turned into a dangerous moral issue. It doesn't seem prudent to me to let the 'protect-my-Constitutional-rights' view trump the 'let's try to reduce the occurrence of mass murders' view. 

Guns and the government

I'm far from a Libertarian, but, generally speaking, I am a fan of smaller government. But, I don't believe the reach of the federal government should be the primary talking point in the issue at this time. The government has a duty to protect it's citizens. Ignoring the increasingly frequent occurrence of shootings like the one in Florida this week is doing the opposite. I believe the government has a compelling interest in enacting and enforcing much stricter gun laws. Our legislators simply need only to practice fortitude, prudence, and compassion to realize this issue can no longer be ignored. Because it has been ignored for too long. There have been too many events in the last several years for the government to fail to enact any meaningful legislation to address it-whether that concerns gun ownership or mental health. If our government continues to refuse to respond to such a real danger to Americans in a practical, tangible way then what good are the men and women we've elected to serve us?

The government rightly regulates the possession and use of many things. Think heroin, vehicles, or explosives. Why does the government care about these things? Because they either have no potential for good, while only serving to harm users/possessors as well as others-so they are banned, or because, while very dangerous, they actually do have a positive use for people (and can generate tax revenue at the same time?)-so they are regulated.

Firearms should be treated the same, and it is becoming increasingly clear why. In the second category, guns are regulated. Handguns and hunting shotguns and rifles easily fall into this category. They have safe utility for hunting, recreational shooting, and self-defense. However, because of the danger they pose to the lives of people, the government has a strong interest in regulating them by requiring background checks and serial numbers. This makes perfect sense. What doesn't make sense is our unyielding reluctance to place assault weapons and ammunition in the former category. There is simply no reason that civilians should have access to them. They have a single purpose: to kill many quickly.  There is no other reason to owning them besides simply collecting. However, it's time that we all realize that an affirmation of the irreversible damage and destruction these can do is more compelling than a desire to maintain a collection of toys.

I don't know what the full answer is. But, it's not to do nothing. We elect politicians to serve us and protect our interests and lives. It's time to realize that addressing the issue of automatic assault weapons is of paramount importance.

What about mental health?

I'm discouraged to hear in response that the real issue is mental health. There is some truth in this. Most of the perpetrators of mass gun violence do appear to have mental health issues. This does need to be dealt with.  I simply have two brief points in response. Effectively dealing with this on a government level will require lots of investment of time and money into improving our health system. This is a whole other issue that I am reluctant to think the two sides in the gun debate can come to any consensus on. I also notice that those who put forth mental health as the bigger issue do not want the government more involved in health care. Secondly, addressing assault weapons at the same time doesn't detract from this viewpoint. If someone is mentally ill, then they'll be so whether they have assault-style weapons or not. But, if access to assault-style weapons is cut off or restricted, then deranged potential mass murderers will have much less access to vehicles by which to commit their atrocities. Detractors say that they'll just find new ways to commit the crimes. I say so what? What is so wrong with making that more difficult?  No one would be harmed and no one's Constitutional rights would be taken away by legislation banning assault-style weapons.

Concluding thoughts

Too many lives are being cut short in our time by gun violence in the US. Automatic assault weapons have purpose: to kill many people in a short amount of time. There is no other discernible purpose that is worth protecting at the expense of the lives of more innocent victims. And no one's 2nd Amendment rights are being violated by legislating against assault-style weapons. This amendment does not restrict the government from having any role in regulating firearms. It simply doesn't allow them to take that right away altogether. Just like the 1st Amendment doesn't prohibit the federal government from having any say at all in how I practice my religion or what I say or write. I believe in our current landscape the federal government has a compelling interest in dealing with this issue by legislation up to the outright banning of assault-style automatic weapons. I think we should all be able to see this whether we are Democrats or Republicans. This is an issue where politics needs to be put aside. We need to learn to care about people more than we do ideological loyalty.