Pow! Pow! Pow! (not my job)

I've tried speaking intelligently several times about the current debate over gun control laws in the United States, following all the mass shootings in the past couple of years, culminating in the massacre of first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary in December. It has been difficult to cover everything I want to say in an even-slightly-succint manner. I think that's one of the things that so frustrating about the whole issue - not that this is the only important issue that gets reduced to silly sound bites, but it seems to be the issue with the most direct, dire consequences.

First 7 photos - Sandy Hook stock photos

Matt and I just finished talking about an interview I saw last week on AC 360 on CNN. Anderson Cooper (I.love.him) was interviewing two folks from Texas, following a shooting on the campus of Lone Star College in Houston, in which three people were injured. The unabashedly pro-gun-rights guy, Texas State Sen. Dan Patrick, was the first person I heard mentioning impeaching President Obama after he signed those executive orders the day or so before. The other, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, appeared to take a more measured response. Anderson asked Mr. Patrick if in light of this incident, if he had reconsidered his position on the issue at all; the answer to that question was "no," and Patrick stated this only reinforced his opinion, that perhaps if the other person involved in the altercation, or the maintenance worker who was standing nearby, had had a gun then perhaps the incident would've ended differently. Anderson countered with his memories of the sort of stupid things that he and his peers did at age 20, 21, 22, and asked if it's really wise to add handguns to the mix (a lot of the discussion was about allowing people who have a concealed-carry permit to bring guns onto college campuses, which is currently prohibited). Patrick countered with the fact that soldiers and police officers are that same age and carry and use guns responsibly.

I have several thoughts about this, and I hope this comes at the issue from an angle that's slightly different than most of what I've heard discussed so far:

1. I've heard a lot of different comparisons during this debate; some seem to be fairly on-target and others are patently ridiculous. Whatever *%&$ alleged that Obama is a hypocrite because his daughters are protected by armed guards at their school, or some other $#^% who suggested that a ban on assault weapons begin with the federal government and work its way down (military giving them up first) - these folks are so silly I really don't think they should be allowed to speak. But on this particular subject, I say: IT IS NOT THE SAME THING.

Aurora CO

Going through a 6-hour (or whatever) course on gun safety, and demonstrating some level of proficiency at a firing range - THAT IS NOT THE SAME as being in law enforcement or the military. It is not the same as undergoing rigorous, ongoing training or using firearms under some sort of supervision, with strict guidelines about the use of those weapons. I imagine it takes a great deal of training and experience to accurately assess a situation, to determine who is the aggressor and who is the student or groundskeeper defending himself, and who has a bag of Skittles or a cell phone in their pocket and who is reaching for a gun. And cops and soldiers still screw it up sometimes and shoot the wrong person, even with all that training.


I heard some military person commenting specifically on the AR-15 that was used at Sandy Hook and other "assault-style" weapons. He came at it not from the standpoint of rights or laws or anything; he said it is simply not appropriate for a civilian to have a "military-style" gun. Soldiers carry them because they are faced with the possible need to take out multiple enemy targets in a short time; no one else would ever be authorized to kill that many people under any circumstance, there's no legal basis for a civilian to carry a weapon that has that level of potential to kill so many people.

I guess that's what I've been thinking about most here lately, the thought that just because you CAN have a gun, that doesn't mean you SHOULD. And that's my main worry about this cowboy approach to defense of self and others.

Columbine HS

2. As far as Anderson's comment about stupid things and 21-year-olds: Matt and I are totally on the same page about this one. Matt said, "There needed to be ZERO guns in my dorm," and I would agree for my own dorm. I mean, really. Yes I knew plenty of reasonable mature folks in college, and I also witnessed many of them being highly intoxicated on multiple occasions, in the dorm, and sometimes there were arguments and oh my god what if one of them had had a gun? A dorm is pretty close quarters - lots of folks in a small amount of space; it wouldn't take much to make a stupid drunken dispute turn horrible.

Thinking back to my college campus, if we'd had such a relaxed approach and I knew that approximately 50 or whatever percent of my fellow students were carrying firearms in their coats or backpack? That would not have made me feel one tiny bit safer about anything - it would have scared the hell out of me. State Sen. Patrick said that women walking alone on campus at night would feel safer if they had a gun. A gut-level response to that might be, okay, because it is scary to be by yourself in the dark. But when I think for just a couple of seconds beyond the first response, I think that when folks (again, without training) are afraid they tend to over-react to perceived threats and if someone is following me and yelling, "Hey stop!" and grabs me on the shoulder, he might be getting ready to rape me but he might be trying to give me back the keys that fell out of my pocket awhile back.


3. In some discussions I've heard pro-gun people accuse folks like me of talking about "hypotheticals instead of facts." Come on. Patrick is the one imagining this rosy outcome if everyone involved had a gun, and the ... truly nutty? ... among them are the ones discussing this imaginary day in the future in which President Obama is going to go door-to-door with the army behind him to personally strip you of all your guns. Who's dealing in hypotheticals now?

Sikh Temple

4. I'm not sure of the best way to frame this, exactly, because this is more of a bedrock, hard-core personality issue, one that I'm not sure people are that likely to change. But ... I do not want to have the ability or the responsibility to shoot someone. The way I think about it is, that is not my job. It is my job to take my kids to school and make home visits on clients and get supper on the table. It is the job of law enforcement and the military to shoot people. After being traumatized by witnessing a shooting such as the one at Lone Star, the last thing on Earth I want to hear is, well why didn't you have a gun? If you had a gun then why didn't you use it? Why didn't you run out of the building (instead of getting down and keeping quiet), accurately determine exactly what was going on, and shoot the gunman right between the eyes? You see what I mean, right? I am happy to do anything to save someone else's life, but I do not wish to take someone else's. On that note,


5. The world is a scary place. I am often afraid of it too. When I have to wonder if my son will make it home okay from Kindergarten, yes it's terrifying. ... I've been writing a lot lately about fear, particularly fear that you have no power to determine the course of your life, no power to change a particular thing. Maybe buying and carrying a gun makes you feel more powerful, more in control of the unknown. Aside from the more esoteric "surrendering and understanding there is relatively little in the world over which you have control," in this specific instance, what if drawing a gun and then hesitating (again, without the proper training) while you decide who to shoot, makes it that much more likely that someone else is going to try to shoot you first - either the bad guy or another good guy like yourself arriving on the scene and perceiving you as the threat?

Treyvon

6. There were a bunch more Twitter posts released the day after Obama's inauguration this week, similar to those posted after his re-election last year. These specifically discussed the possibility of his assassination, specifically during the parade, oath-taking, or inaugural speech - laughing about the possibility, wishing they could be the one to do it. On one of the Tweeter's pages, she reports she is an elementary-education major in college. Yes, this is a person I want teaching my child. Yes, it seems perfectly reasonable to give her a gun to keep in the classroom, because she seems to have stellar judgment, great decision-making skills, and a sense of fairness that would prevent her from shooting someone inappropriately. Jesus.

Virginia Tech