America's Wake Up Call
Obviously this is not the first time that the nation has been faced with such tragedy, in fact as recently as twice in the Obama's tenure alone. And in almost every case, there is a lot of talk from officials. "We need to fix this", they all parrot. Then in a short time the publicity spotlight moves elsewhere and the proclamations do not turn into actions. Well it is time we Americans insisted that the problem be addressed. But it is even more important that the actions taken be beamed at the gun problem and not at soothing various organizations political and/or philosophical leanings.
Let's start by taking a look at a stripped-down version of the scenario for that horrible morning. A young man, known to be deeply mentally disturbed, strolls in into an elementary school in broad daylight with a hard-to-conceal hi-powered rifle (equipped with a mega-shot clip) and commences to execute a terrified 6 year old little girl, shooting her at point blank range multiple times. He then repeats that scenario two dozen more times.
The nation is engulfed in shock, disbelief and a sense of mourning – an emotional response that quickly spreads to large portions of the world. But to me, equally alarming, is that the blood had not been wiped up and the school still smelled of gunpowder and out came the political activist. The 'Gun Ban Lobby' ran straight to the press, an industry largely 'sympathetic to their cause'. And here we go, the airwaves and the newspaper are full of the 'Ban Guns' demands.
People STOP – look at the scenario again. A deeply mentally disturbed man with a gun? (more on that subject later). He strolls into a elementary school? (30+ years ago in the Northern Virginia D.C. Suburbs I could not stroll in to my own kids school with out going through security). And the problem is – he had a gun? And a gun that is difficult, if not impossible, to conceal? Please! The problem that needs to be addressed is he had a gun? If he had knifed them all (as that horrendous villain did in China the same day) would we have a movement to require us all to turn in our steak knives?
But, some still insist that to correct this problem we are going to have to take the guns away from law abiding, legal gun owning citizens. But think about this, aren't all those citizens members of the 'potential victim pool' for the next disaster? Trying to solve this problem with a gun ban, to me, is akin to solving the DUI death problems by banning, not alcohol (we learned that didn't work in the 30s), but banning the sale of gasoline.
So What Do We Do
For starters the National Rifle Association (NRA) needs to get off this indefensible defense (offense) that insists assault rifles, mega ammunition clips, and similar weapons are huddled up underneath the 2nd Amendment display tent. Get real! You are going to try and convince me that all these modern weapons were clearly envisioned by the founding fathers, and therefore included in the constitutional protection? An extension of that logic could then include shoulder launched missiles (commercial airlines ought to love Billy Bob owning those)? You could add nuclear noses on your missiles as well? Come on!
I am not suggesting that the American population should strike back at the 'Ban Gun's approach by a wholesale arming of the guy on the street. In fact, for a number of reasons that is not the answer either. Here are a couple of things to ponder on that question.
Some people (maybe many) speculate that if there were more armed citizens out on the streets, if/when some wack-job character started shooting in a crowd, he would be mowed down before he even got started good. That sounds good in theory – but, in my opinion only in theory. You cannot imagine the adrenaline-induced jolt (panic?) that hits you when unexpected gun fire erupts around you – trust me, I 'been there" thanks to a year in Saigon in the late 60s - and being armed yourself does not dampen that emotional reaction.
Now think about someone (you?) in that mental state (similar to a panic) pulling a gun to bring down the culprit. Is that guy shooting from over there in this milling chaos the culprit or an off-duty or undercover police officer, or another 'potential hero' armed citizen? Might most men hesitate to shoot just long enough to become one of the victims if it appeared the person shooting was a woman? And when law officers do show up and the first person they see who is firing a weapon is you????? Can you even imagine future nightly network news reports when all over the country there were aborted attempted robberies in 7-11s, road rage incidents, car backfires that triggered firearm responses, friendly arguments that got out of hand, etc, etc......
So There Is Hope
So am not suggesting that nothing should be done with America's gun control procedures, in fact I think the problem is that there seems to be no meaningful or successful such procedures. But taking the 'ban guns' approach takes us right down the road we have already been down. It is going to take political will, and a quieting of the people and organizations with the extreme positions on the subject (NRA -vs- Ban Guns). President Obama said unequivocally in his recent remarks that the enormity and complexity of this problem "can't be an excuse for inaction." But, he has made similar pronouncements after the other two mass killings during his tenure – and once the publicity pressure dissipated, did nothing. The real question then is whether the political will is really there or just the topic of the day.
I do believe the will to address this problem does fester in a majority of the American people. This country has a history of addressing basic inequities that were buried deep in cultural 'givens'. Just in my lifetime the United States has bowed up and re-calibrated our approach to, and treatment of, blacks, women and, now the evolving battles for, homosexuals. So basic changes in our society have been, and therefore, can be made.
Our Nation Has And Can Address Big Issues
The nation's efforts to get a handle on drunk drivers has a lot of similarities to the forces and attitudes that underlie both problems. To address either of these problems, basic attitudes had to be changed towards human behavior and what was/is socially acceptable. The problems of Drinking-and-Driving and resultant DUI deaths, though certainly not totally resolved, were at the 'national tragedy' level just a few short years ago. Many people's attitudes towards drinking and driving tended to lean towards considering such behavior a personal decision – maybe even a right. And in many states the law, if not condoning those attitudes, did little to discourage them.
I remember vividly a Sunday afternoon in the late 60s where I had occasion to make a quick run out to the Air Force base (in Sherman, Texas), and saw in the highway behind me a Highway Patrol car with lights flashing approaching me. Since I was the only car in sight I assumed that he was stopping me and pulled over. I did not even bother to hide the beer I had in the cup holder in the console – it was not against the law – not even frowned on.
In years past there was also a lot of common behavior that today would draw frowns and maybe intervention from others. "I got so hammered last night I don't even remember driving home" stories are no longer received with gales of laughter.
About six years ago when I moved to Wilmington, N.C. It was the first time/place I routinely took cabs home from the party even if I thought I was in OK condition to drive. The DUI laws are tough, the ever-present roadblocks are strategically placed, and a DUI conviction in these modern times has a significant impact on your life that often impact your life for years.
Attitudes can be changed especially when the public and organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) gets cranked up. No one wants to see anyone killed by a drunk driver, certainly not a kid. And as I mentioned before, the solution was not to make alcohol the culprit that needed to be abolished (been there, done that), but to address the human behavior.
And even on the subject of DUI driving we tend to be behind other countries. In the 70s I was a visitor at an Air Force base in England. When you came out of the Officers Club at night to go home there was a line of cabs in the drive in front of the club – an oddity at the time from my experiences. Well the reason they were there was because on the walk across on the other side of the drive was a contingent of USAF Air Policemen. There job was to insure that no one left that club and walked over and got in the car. Period. Even if you had just stopped by the club to get a pack of cigarettes, you were none-the-less going home by taxi.
Other Countries Successes
There are many examples where other countries have successfully confronted this problem. And Australia may be the best example, if for no other reason the Aussies seem to share our 'love of individual freedoms' as well as a sort of 'Wild West' streak.
In 1996, a horrible shooting rampage in Australia resulted in the killing of 35 people who were all sprayed by automatic weapons fire by a 'social misfit'. Within weeks their government was working through legislation to reform gun laws, ban assault weapons (and shotguns), tightened licensing, and financed gun 'buy-back problems (with amnesty). Sadly, as it relates to this discussion, the newspaper headlines quoted their prime minister (at the time) when he commented, "We do not want the American Disease Imported into Australia."
The Australian laws worked! A 2010 report shows that firearms homicides dropped 59% between 1995 and 2006. More importantly, in the 18 years before the 1996 laws, there were 13 gun massacres resulting in 102 deaths. Since the law's implementation there have been none – none!
And these kind of results are repeated in a number of countries that have faced up to the problem and made major improvements. And in the country with probably the toughest gun laws in the world, Japan, there were 11 people killed by guns in a year. Compared that to the U.S. with 33 a DAY (12,000 total in a year), a big disparity even factoring in the population difference.
So let's quit debating IF something needs to be done about gun control, and start working on WHAT should be done on gun control. And the measures taken need to be much more expansive to be effective. Should a gun be allowed in a home where there are felons or seriously mental ill or other 'dangerous' people living? Should there be special firearm storage requirements in the homes of gun owners, especially if there are children in the family? Secure storage measures that would also prevent theft? Should gun owner's be identified in some new or existing list or data bases to increase safety measure? (For instance, when the police pull in a neighbor at night they know which three homeowners on this street own guns – same at a traffic stop) All of these types of factors, as well as many more I could not even imagine might be included in the new laws, BUT only if they are designed to address the problem and have a reasonable chance of doing so.
A Story To Add Perspective
I would like to pass on to you a personal experience with guns, specifically a hand gun. And I do so only because I think it illustrates how complicated this problem is, even in some ways at the personal level.
I grew up with guns. My father's family migrated to Kansas City when he was a teenager from the boondocks of the Arkansas Ozark mountains. In that environment a shotgun was a household staple, part of their life. They hunted wildlife and often kept the shotgun on the plow as the were working in the fields in case they jumped a deer or a covey of quail.
I started hunting with my father at an early age – well, actually walking the fields with him before I was old enough to carry a firearm. My first gun was a .410, single shot shotgun given to me by my father as a birthday gift – I was 12. Up through my early 20s when I went in the USAF, I was a hunter and progressed through several shotguns.
I joined the NRA with a hunting buddy when I was about 18, not because of any political motivation, but primarily to get their magazine. I also bought from them by mail order an Army issue Colt 45 automatic for 'home protection'. I purchased that specific gun because I felt it was safe to have around the house. With a 'click-click' it could be dis-assemble and the three major parts stored safely side-by-side on a shelf. That is primarily because, even through it could be assembled in the same quick click-click manner in case of emergency, a person not familiar with that gun would never figure it out. And even if they did stumble through that process, the ammo would be in the clip not in the chamber ready to fire. To prepare it to fire was another test for the uninitiated due to built-in safety features.
In the early 1970s I was transferred to Hawaii and left the gun in storage in the U.S. Because of the administrative hassle of shipping a weapon in your household good. One weekday after noon I happened to be at home, and I suddenly heard my three grade school daughters coming down the street screaming bloody murder in terror. The kind of terror that would have triggered a 'click-click' if that gun had been available. But I ran to the back door knowing the girls would come through the back fence gate there. I met them and managed to determine through their hysterical jabbering that "that man was chasing them trying to hurt them". As I shooed them in the door and picked up the baseball bat I kept next to the back door (for other purposes), 'the man' burst through the back gate. He was big, maybe 5'10'' and a massive build, maybe 225 pounds. Screaming incomprehensibly his face contorted in rage, he was carrying a length of chain, the ends of which were wrapped around his hands in such a way that the rest of the chain was an obvious garotte weapon – he was about to strangle someone!
Adrenalin rushing I stepped towards him intent on disabling him the best I could with the only weapon I had. At that point he dropped to the ground on his hands and knees and began to sob uncontrollably and the only word I could understand was 'Ben'. And at that point I realized who I was dealing with. This was the mentally challenged boy that lived someplace in the neighborhood. You would see him occasionally walking down the street but I had never taken a good look at him (don't want to stare). The only way I knew it was him was his mother dressed him in denim bib overalls (probably the only overalls in Hawaii) so he would stand out and people would realize he had problems. Thanks goodness his mother had heard the commotion and showed up about that time to 'rescue' him, apologizing profusely for my trouble.
I shook uncontrollably for about an hour and could hardly catch me breath. I was so upset because I knew if my trusty.45 automatic had been in my house, that boy would have been a goner – a 13-year old 'monster dead (Yes, he was only 13) because he was looking for help getting his dog (Ben) back on the chain leash. And I had been to all the firearms training, including courses where you 'walked a street' and learned with pop-up targets to quickly identify who to shoot and who not to. And how to shoot to disable and not kill. But I knew in my heart with the adrenaline rushing and my perception that my kids where in danger, that kid would have been a 'goner'.
I don't know if I would have gone to jail or not. I do know I would have had to live with that the rest of my life. I still shudder when this incident comes to mind. When I returned to the U.S. A couple of years later I did two things. 1.) The NRA had turned into a political organization (maybe they always were and I wasn't aware), so I resigned my membership, and 2.) I went to the storage place and took the gun to the police station where I turned it in.
LET'S NEVER FORGET THEM – AND ALL WHO LEFT BEFORE!
Let's Not Give Up On This Subject – Keep Pushing!
Till Next Time. Pura Vida.
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