July 16th / 18th
"Gun Debate Getting Us Nowhere"
The Second Amendment Foundation has been busy lately. Last month they
persuaded the United States Supreme Court to strike down a gun ban in Chicago,
and just last week, the foundation filed suit in Raleigh to challenge an
outdated law that prohibits anyone from transporting a gun during a state of
emergency.
Ironically these actions to preserve gun ownership come at a time when gun
violence is on the rise.
We ended the last century with Columbine, and celebrated the new century
with Virginia Tech and Fort Hood. Yet, somehow, right wingers have managed
to hijack the second amendment, and turn it into a partisan battle cry.
These are the same folks who didn't mind that Dick Cheney shot his friend in
the face, or that Sarah Palin shot wolves from her helicopter. And thanks to
their political activism, it is now acceptable for us to carry guns into
bars (where so many fights have started) or national battlefield parks
(where so many fights have been settled).
The recent Supreme Court decision took aim at a gun ordinance in Chicago's
Oak Park suburb, which had banned citizens from possessing firearms of any
kind. Mayor Richard Daley had been a cheerleader for the ban, saying that
guns in the home, "even for self defense, kill innocent people". But the
conservative Court thought otherwise, and ruled, in effect, that local gun
bans could not supersede our Constitutional right to bear arms. This follows
a decision by the high Court back in 2008 which struck down Washington
D.C.'s ban on handgun possession by law abiding citizens. Now, not content just
to challenge big city bans, the SAF is expanding their crusade to fighting
obscure ordinances, such as the one here in North Carolina that makes it
illegal to transport a firearm during a winter storm emergency.
In a way, this new movement is a backlash against, or a course correction
from, liberal initiatives during the 1990's which sought ways to regulate
the sale and distribution of handguns. Back then, the Clinton administration
gave political cover to Mayors and Governors who sought to curb crime by
curbing easy access to guns. Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, for example,
squared off against the NRA and successfully passed legislation that limited
handgun purchases to one per month. Virginia had been the number one source
state for guns used in the commission of violent crimes along the I-95
corridor, and criminals were buying scores of guns each day, then taking them
to New York City where they were traded for illegal drugs. Wilder's law,
passed in 1993, effectively halted that trade. And yet, earlier this year,
radical conservatives in the Virginia legislature attempted to repeal that law.
They were unsuccessful, but only for now. That may change as the SAF
continues to gain momentum. If so, it will be due in part to misinformation
spread by gun proponents. For example, anytime gun lobbies feel threatened by
proposed hand gun legislation, their rally cry is "The government is trying
to take your guns away". This tactic was used during the 1993 Virginia
battle, and, again, later with the Brady Bill campaign. It was also true during
the national debate over a ban on assault rifles.
But liberal politicians like Daly are also partly to blame for their
recent defeats in Court. That's because they don't focus on common sense
solutions which can be effective in preventing crime, while not seeming to
trample on innocent people's rights to protect themselves. Let's face it, gun
bans don't work. They haven't stopped gun violence in DC or Chicago, nor have
they been effective abroad. Brazil has more restrictive gun laws than we
do, and 100 million fewer people, yet they experience more gun related
deaths than here in America. Back in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre,
Australia decided to ban guns, yet crime has risen since then. And as right
wing websites like KC3.com point out, both Germany and Russia banned all
weapons early on in the last century, making it easy for their repressive
governments to control and exterminate millions of defenseless people.
Strangely enough, the most heavily armed citizenry in the world resides in
Switzerland, where universal conscription is practiced. There, able bodied men are
required to keep automatic weapons at home in case they are called to
defend their country. The Swiss don't get invaded, massacred, or conquered, and
gun violence there is almost non'existent.
And so, the answer to our problems here at home lies not with handgun
bans, or right wing posturing, but with stricter enforcement of sensible laws
governing the purchase of those guns, including more comprehensive screening
of applicants with a history of mental illness or violence. We liberals
should also be more open to the idea of gun possession by responsible
homeowners, pilots, professors, and judges who may find themselves in a position
to stop a crime in progress, and save lives in the process. And, regardless
of our political persuasions, we should be able to reason together toward
reaching a common goal, unencumbered by incendiary rhetoric. Remember, "Guns
don't kill solutions, people kill solutions".
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