It’s the Guns and it is What’s Behind the Guns
Yes, it clearly the guns. But behind the guns are the gun owners of the kind that make up the NRA rank and file. Most of whom are not and will never be mass shooters.
But the rank and file, acting as members of the gun cult, will defend the “no regulation at all” stance to their dying breath even if this means full throated support of mass shooters and exhibiting no regard whatsoever for the victims.
And if your 5 year old dies of gun violence, well, that is just “the price you pay” for HIS freedom to bear arms without limit.
But this is not where it ends. Behind the rank and file NRA member is the Republican Party.
These elected officials have a duel purpose. They are bound and determined to win at all costs, and for this reason they want their base to be locked and loaded. In case of the civil war they are pushing for. In other words, anytime the citizenry at large or a member of the judiciary does anything they don’t like. They want enough domestic terrorists carrying their banner and an AR-15 to scare the rest of us into submission.
But there is another, more compelling reason the Republicans will never allow sane gun legislation to pass: the MONEY.
Gun sales in the United States alone is worth at least 30 billion, and maybe more than that. The data was a bit murky.
But it is billions upon billions. And the Republican party has its snout so deep in that bucket you can’t see their eyebrows.
No doubt some Democrats too. Just not nearly as many. And if they were in charge and the system were not broken, they might just pass a bill. If only.
The truth is that the corporate oligarchy has wormed so far into the policy making apparatus in this country that it may as well be a wholly owned subsidiary of Transnational Corp. Inc. And the Democrats are the ugly stepchildren. Everyone works for Milo.
Gun Sanity
What would gun sanity consist of? Here is my list, but I am not a policy maker. Just spit balling here:
Ban assault weapons and any others that are weapons of war and belong only in military settings.
20 day waiting period, full mental health screening.
Age limits: 21+
Must carry heavy insurance, take a class every two years, and have a place to secure any guns you own, the number of which should be limited.
No open carry except secured in vehicle on the way to target shoot or hunt.
Concealed only with permit.
In other words, strict control.
One of the hardest things when figuring out what policy would work best is what to do about the millions of weapons already out there. That will take some deep thought.
Pubic Outrage and Courage
I have come to the conclusion that only a massive action on the part of regular citizens has a chance against the factors I laid out above, especially the money. An action as widespread and drawn out as the protests during the Vietnam War. Nonviolent and protracted.
But this will take a greater effort.
The protests after the lynching of George Floyd were a organic. A ground swell of people who had just tolerated too much violence and hate for too long and this time they filled the streets. And the killers were tried and convicted. That would not have happened even ten years ago.
Why is the slaughter of our precious children not enough to galvanize something similar? Why is the fact that we can’t go to a mall or movie theater without keeping one eye open for a mass killer not enough?
I know people are overtaxed and struggling. But the same forces that keep us that way are the forces keeping gun legislation from passing.
As long a the arms mongers are making hundreds of billions this will not end. Unless we demand it with the full force of our conviction as citizens.
I have posted this several times on social media and a good friend responded that doing a protest movement like that would be dangerous in the extreme.
That the rag tag army of gun cult members, egged on by stochastic terrorism from their leadership, would attack and there would be many casualties.
I can’t disagree. That has been the threat all along. But, consider this: we only retain the democracy we are willing to fight for. We did not provoke nor ask for this war. But some things require that we stand up. A society that can’t protect its children is a failed society.
The other day I wrote a bit about courage. Doing what must be done will take all of ours.
Are we prepared to take action at long last? If this is not worth fighting for what is? We will each have to decide for ourselves how far to go.
All true. Thank you for saying it. Politicians must be convinced that they will be voted out if they do not support gun safety legislation. That is clearly not the case now.
Nashville, TN was my hometown. Boy you called this one. 🙏