I’m angry. You should be too. On December 14th, a young man shot his way
into a locked elementary school in a small town in Connecticut and
murdered twenty children and six adults. This is an abhorrent act by a
mentally ill person, but the magnitude of the act was amplified because
the murderer had access to guns. Big guns.
The Facts
The gunman was carrying three weapons, a 9mm SIG handgun, a Glock 10mm
Auto, and a Bushmaster M4 Type Carbine. Let’s take a look.
9mm SIG
Glock 10mm Auto
Bushmaster M4 Type Carbine
The Bushmaster was the primary weapon used in the
attack.
Take a close look at that gun and ask yourself what the primary purpose
of a device like that might be. This type of gun is not used for
hunting. This is a military grade weapon, it’s sole purpose in existence
is to kill human beings.
Culture
The other day I had the unfortunate privilege of watching The
Expendables 2. The
movie is not good, but it’s appeal to a certain group of people is
understandable. Lots of violence, big action stars from the 80’s
together in one movie to spew horrible one-liners off of each other.
It’s 103 minutes of senseless violence, glorifying in how many bad guys
the good guys can kill before reloading. It is a movie made for men who
never outgrew their adolescent worship of Rambo. A movie that caters to
the American desire to be seen as a “bad-ass”.
Someone you don’t want to mess with, someone who would rip your head
off, someone who dresses all in black because that’s what the lone wolf
who fights for revenge does. “Whoaaaaa… Arnold and Stallone AND
Bruce Willis in the same scene!” It’s exploitation of hero worship. The
show is designed to appeal to our base instincts, to get our adrenaline
pumping, and to allow the viewer to vicariously wear the persona of a
man who acts without conscience. A man who is not pushed around by
anyone.
The Expendables is not responsible for the shooting in Connecticut, but
it does serve as an example of the type of mindset that plagues the
United States. The disregard for human life and general lack of empathy
or caring glorified by The Expendables is not new. I’ve seen movies like
this for my entire life, and the shows go back at least to the westerns
of early cinema. Popular movies are just a mirror for exposing what we
like. Americans are a violent and warlike people. Just because some of
us wear a suit and tie to work doesn’t mean that we don’t carry that
violence inside. We are not too far removed from Romans who would watch
gladiators duel to the death in the Colosseum for sport.
Our culture of violence, and our deep embrace of guns as an expression
of individual achievement and self-realization is a deep problem that is
not going to go away any time soon. We make assault rifles available to
the general public, but most states will still lock someone up for
possession of an eighth ounce of marijuana. We have much work to do.
Escalation
The shooter arrived at the school wearing a bullet-proof vest, military
style clothes, and a mask. He used the Bushmaster to shoot open the
door, and then killed the first two people who tried to stop him. Our
local school board addressed the security of our school at the monthly
meeting, where a respected member of the community, a doctor no less,
said:
There’s no better deterrent than shooting back at someone.
That depends. On several factors. In the case of the Connecticut
incident, I’m not sure it would have mattered. It is very difficult to
stop a determined gunman, especially one who has already made up his
mind to take his own life. If a target is guarded, the first person you
take out is the guard. If the guard is carrying a weapon, you make sure
you have a counter-weapon, something big enough, fast enough, and
powerful enough to win in a gunfight.
However, the real issue is not properly equipping the guard to deal with
a siege. The issue is that the doctor’s proposal recommends fighting the
problem with more of the problem. It is the expendables answer. It is
Rambo’s answer. The problem is not that our schools are not better
protected, the problem is that we have a culture that encourages
violence, provides easy access to powerful weapons, and does not provide
adequate treatment for mental illness.
Guns
Take a look at the Bushmaster in the image above again. Why do we want
this in our world? Why does this weapon exist? The obvious answer is
because there are bad people in the world that need to be dealt with. I
agree, and I am so thankful for the military members who put their lives
on the line to protect our way of life. But why outside of that context,
outside of the group of people we have selected to deal with threats,
the police, the military, why does the Bushmaster need to be made
available to the general public?
If you privately own one of these weapons, why?
My favorite argument against tighter gun laws is that criminals do not
obey the law, so they would have guns and law abiding citizens would
not, leaving the good people at the mercy of the bad. It is a nice
sentiment, but not one that holds up under scrutinization. In the
imaginary situation where guns other than rifles for hunting were
outlawed, where would a mentally ill person contemplating shooting up a
kindergarten get his guns? From the mafia? From the local, small-town
underground arms dealer? I would assume that whatever pleasure is gained
by owning a weapon like this would not be enough to offset the risk
accepted by breaking the law to obtain the weapon. Therefore, assuming
that the local police are doing their job, the weapons would not be
available.
Besides, criminal access to weapons is a different problem than the one
being addressed here. This is a problem of culture and availability.
The Second Amendment reads thus:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.
The right to bear arms so often called upon by gun enthusiasts is
misused. The founders of our nation were saying that local governing
bodies could organize a militia. I’m certain that the founders could not
envision a Bushmaster, nor could they imagine a world where someone
would use one to murder children. We live in a world unimaginable to the
people who founded this country, so interpreting their wishes makes
little sense. We need to decide for ourselves what is best for the
current world we live in, and what is best for the immediate future.
My opinion is that the only gun a private citizen truly needs is a rifle
for hunting. Would the massacre in Connecticut have happened if the only
gun the killer could get his hands on was a single shot rifle? I don’t
think so.
Change
We have a few things to work on, America. Let’s put an end to glorifying
senseless violence. Let’s get the weapons who’s only purpose is for us
to more efficiently kill each other off the streets. Let’s focus on
getting people who need help the help they need. We are better than
this, we can do better.
