Friday, March 29, 2024

Are Gun Control Opponents Really That Patriotic?

March 22, 2013 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) An interesting dilemma presented itself on a rerun of the television series Bones.  The diabolically evil antagonist devised a scheme whereby he electronically drained the enormous wealth of one of the good guys while simultaneously threatening death to several innocent civilians.  The only way the good guy could stop the draining of his wealth would have been to break a life saving electronic link to the civilians.  The dilemma: save your own wealth or the lives of complete strangers.   Without hesitation, our hero chose to maintain the link with the victims, sacrificing all that he owned for their safety.  Painful though it was, it was the right thing to do.

That episode keeps coming back to me whenever the subject of gun control comes up.  Despite the fact that the United States registers more than 11,000 gun related deaths per year, people like the NRA’s CEO Wayne Lapiere scream bloody murder whenever the tiniest steps are suggested to curb this senseless violence.  Mind you, no one is talking about leaving law abiding citizens without guns to hunt or protect themselves.  They merely want to ban military style assault weapons and tighten control of the flow of guns, including stricter background checks as well as some other common sensegun-control-pro proposals.  Given the massacres at places like Sandy Hook elementary school, and the ongoing slaughter of innocent children in places like Chicago, where a six month old baby was just shot to death , one has to wonder why anyone who isn’t a sociopath would object to such measures.

I believe the answer lies in the right wing’s fanatical paranoia concerning freedom.  The Right simply refuses to understand that absolute freedom and community are antithetical.  They cannot exist together.  Unless you’re in a nudist colony, the presence of other human beings means that you do not have the freedom to go around naked.  We have stop signs and traffic lights because multiple cars, as well as pedestrians occupy the streets.   Yet this childish and selfish world view, predicated upon the elevation of the individual above the group, persists as the foundation for resistance to any form of gun control.  In his recent speech before the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), Lapiere stated:

“ …our Founding Fathers knew that without the Second Amendment and that freedom, all of our freedoms could be in jeopardy.” 

This paranoia over freedom has permeated almost all right wing politics.  It, along with Grover Norquist’s pledge against raising taxes of any kind, has made compromise (which is the backbone of any democracy) almost impossible in Washington.  Consider what Chuck Norris, the martial arts actor,   had to say about President Obama in a video he made about the presidential campaign:

“If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack,” Norris says. “We’re at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don’t change the course in which our country is headed.”

Again the issue is framed, not as an honest disagreement among intelligent, patriotic, fellow Americans, but as freedom vs. EVIL.  And who could forget Ronald Reagan’s famous warnings that Social Security would mean the end of freedom as we know it?  Isn’t it ironic that it was Reagan who was famous for his use of the “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.” adage and yet Republicans continue to fall for the “threat to freedom” ruse over and over and over again?

So why are the freedom arguments so hysterically hyperbolic?  My guess is that the hysteria serves as a smokescreen for how truly inane and unpatriotic the Right Wing positions are, especially on gun control.   Patriotism involves sacrifice.  The soldier who makes the ultimate sacrifice is considered to be the ultimate patriot.  Yet these people aren’t willing to give up anything– not even the time it takes to secure adequate background checks- to save American lives!    Can anyone tell me what is so patriotic about refusing to allow mentally ill people to be checked before giving them guns with which to kill other Americans?   Maybe if they shout loudly enough no one will question the logic that says that gun ownership is a God given right, but health care is not.

Staff Writer; William Griggs 

To view more of this talented brother work, head over to; http://www.WlliamGriggs.net.  

 


Comments

7 Responses to “Are Gun Control Opponents Really That Patriotic?”
  1. Morgan says:

    Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, as a matter of fact, most are banned, as are all of the other places that most shootings happen. Statistics also show that, in states with strict gun laws, neighboring state citizens are often arrested in “border towns” with these states committing crimes. Want to know why an insane “spree shooter” bent on mass killings goes to schools and theaters ? Because they always pick “gun free zones” because they hate it when people shoot back. Just the fact that places like Chicago and the state of Massachusetts have EXTREMELY strict gun laws, yet still lead the country in crime statistics, should be enough to show that it does not effect the crime rate ( not as far as lowering it, anyway ) and everyone also likes to add “more guns on the street does not mean more safety” or slogans like that. Who is saying to put more guns on the street ? We are saying leave the laws alone and enforce the ones you have. Does anyone realize that there are no procedures in place for states to report their information on people who should not be owning guns to the F.B.I ? That the Virginia Tech shootings and The Santa Barbara tragedy BOTH were failures of the governments ability to use their own system for denying gun ownership ? States have not had the money, nor, I guess the time, to report their records to the federal government so that these people can be put on the “background check” list to be denied a gun and no one seems to care – they only want MORE laws.

  2. First my view: http://rawdawgb.blogspot.com/2012/08/can-i-bring-my-gat.html

    Personally no one ever mentions the geographic differences. I live on a farm – 11 acres, miles away from any neighbor or police force. I don’t pay for water, but I suspect most city folks do. There is a difference between folks who live in cities and where i live as a black man. In the city if I have a pistol, police take it as probabable cause. In my small town of 2300, no county sheriffs considers having gun as probably cause because all have them.

    I respect your belief but its like saying having an extra drug law, or law against rape or law against murder will actually prevent the aforementioned. As an African American, this is the issue new and more laws never work. Take Chicago for example, Chicago ranks 90th (LAST) in Federal Gun Law Enforcement – Syracuse Univ. study shows although they have the toughest Gun laws of any major city. [ VIDEO HERE} http://www.nbcnews.com/video/meet-the-press/51309112#51309112 ]

  3. The premise that more gun laws would save lives is almost certainly wrong, and is certainly unproven.

    It is every bit as likely that the existing laws are costing lives every year.

    If you start with bad assumptions, it is difficult to arrive a good conclusions.

    It is certainly unpatriotic to undermine the Constitution and the rule of law.

  4. Ford says:

    …michael davis, C. Brooks and Matthew you are all exactly right. “They” sure as hell DO wish to take our guns. Biden laughingly says all we need is a double barrel shotgun to protect our homes. Jay Carney said that no they weren’t planning on taking ALL guns that people should be able to have “a gun” in the home for protection. Background checks are wanted for all private gun sales along with total gun registration. I think it’s coming down to it folks, the day I never thought would happen, when we will have to decide whether or not to become instant felons by hiding our untraceable weapons from a government who appears to be after total control. The writer blames you and me, as gun owners, for the “ongoing slaughter of innocent children” not the gang scum who are actually responsible. We, as gun owners, are pointed at as basically killers by association. Gang scum use guns…we own guns. The gun grabbers see little difference the two. Its a few years old now but go on youtube and look at gun confiscation following Katrina. The thugs had guns and/or simply physical strength and numbers. The black lady says she had her bible and gun and knew she was safe. We need as many of her as we can find.

  5. Matthew says:

    I put myself above the community, for sure. That’s what makes America so great: Individual freedom over the collective. Molon labe. We have the guns, we hold the power.

  6. C.Brooks says:

    The wealthy man had to first become wealthy before he could sacrifice his wealth for another.
    Your first obligation is to take care of yourself….if you don’t you can never be in a postion to take care of others.
    Maintaining our freedom and independence from the government and each other is the key to America’s great success.
    The “it takes a village” fantasy has failed enough for us all to understand the dangers of a collective.
    It may seem easier and safer to pass some of the responsibility for your wellbeing off to the rest of society but it never ends well for the individual.

  7. michael davis says:

    “Mind you, no one is talking about leaving law abiding citizens without guns to hunt or protect themselves.”

    A simple search will show you that they ARE talking about this. Check cuomo, feinstein, and various bills in various states.

    “They merely want to ban military style assault weapons and tighten control of the flow of guns, including stricter background checks as well as some other common sense proposals.”

    Military style assault weapons is a made up term. The gun grabbers use it to demonize certain weapons as an inroad to further their agenda of gun confiscation.

    We already have strict background checks which are sometimes not even enforced.

    Common sense to who? Encroachment and infringements of rights is not common sense to me. Taking responsibility for your safety by arming youself is. Police do not have a legal repsonsiblity to protect you.

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