Guns and Tears, Part 4-The Guns

What occurs to me is that in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin killing, and subsequent arrest (finally) of George Zimmerman the routinely unmentioned question of guns has been absent throughout the coverage.  So let's talk about it.  I'm not against guns, nor am I unfamiliar with them.  Many people own them, most who are responsible people who respect the power that guns have.  Unfortunately, especially for those responsible people, there are many who are not.  Among those who are irresponsible I number Wayne Lapierre and the NRA.  In a country where there are more guns than people, and where guns are included in so many deaths, it seems to me that there must be a middle ground where guns stop being mentioned in the death statistics we constantly hear.

Trayvon Martin was killed by a gun.  The person who killed him probably should not have had one.  In an op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer this past week, the writer told of 8 killings of young African American males and wounding of 35 others who were taken to Temple University Hospital, since the beginning of 2012.  Over the weekend, there were 5 people killed in Oklahoma by two men who randomly selected people in a predominantly black community.  Killed by guns, not by racism.

The NRA refuses to accept that the product of guns and irresponsibility is death.  I'm not talking about hunters or collectors or recreational users.  And I'm not talking about the Second Amendment right to own guns, which has been validated by the courts.  I'm talking about the logical need for control of those who would purchase for the purpose of using on other people.  Law enforcement knows this is happening, legislators know it is happening, and yet the middle ground solutions don't ever seem to be found.

I was confronted with an argument recently which is compelling.  Let everyone carry, and then there would be a deterrent.  Criminals would be more reluctant if they had to decide if the potential victim might be carrying.  Let's look at Martin-Zimmerman.  If Trayvon were carrying of and was confronted by the gun toting Zimmerman, would the outcome be different.  What do you think the probability is that Trayvon would have been arrested on the spot, despite the Stand Your Ground law.  What would have been accomplished was another gun death, nothing more.

I remember from not too long ago a saying that went "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."  NRA at work.  I don't remember however anyone ever suggesting that guns be outlawed.  If we seek a more civilized society, a civil dialogue does need to occur.  Guns of all kinds have fingerprints, identifiable ballistic fingerprints which can be traced to a particular firearm.  If every gun were identifiable, then the geneology of a weapon could be followed.  If that gun were then registered, it would have a family tree.  If access was limited and transfer was recorded, then where the guns are would be readily available.  "Lost" guns would have to be reported. 

The argument here is between individual freedoms and the public welfare.  Those who oppose gun registration of any kind fall back on their "rights", to the exclusion of the safety and well-being of the rest of us.  The statistics are clear.  The law enforcement community has already made its position clear.  Hunters, you want to shoot animals with automatic weapons, fine.  Seems a little unfair, and not very "sportsmanlike".  Handgun owners, you need to have one to protect your family, fine.  Just keep your 7 year old away from it.

Folks, I don't care if you have a gun.  But from a societal viewpoint, we all need to recognize that not everyone who has a gun is going to be a responsible citizen.  Those guns really are loose cannons.  And unless you want to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, the Old West, guns need to be out of the reach of those who shouldn't have them.  Every time a gun becomes a participant in a crime, a shooting, a killing, those who refuse to recognize my rights to not be shot, those individuals and organizations are at least partially to blame.  Especially in cities, where people are crammed together, a more societal solution is required.  All you anti-government folks need to get a grip, because nobody wants to take away your guns.  All we want is for you not to be part of the problem by fighting what really needs to be done.

If people who shouldn't have guns didn't, only those who know how to be responsible members of our society will have guns.  And all the Trayvon Martins will still be alive.

Thanks for stopping by.

Guns and Tears, Part 3-Rush to Judgment

It occurs to me that there is a great deal of commentary regarding the Trayvon Martin case, much of which has been described as race baiting and a rush to judgment.  In the month since this killing took place, there are numerous details, some contradictory, which have become part of the public discourse.  "The facts" are never going to be fully known.  There are some however that are clear.  Trayvon Martin is dead, his crime being only that he was a black male, walking through an apartment complex wearing a "hoodie."  His killer was George Zimmerman.  He has not been arrested to date.

In America, we have a system of laws and law enforcement, which for the most part, works.  We have a court system which also works pretty well.  And as citizens, we all have rights.  If we are involved in a crime, theoretically we are subject to law enforcement and the judicial system.  Here is another fact for the Martin case portfolio.  As of this writing, the law enforcement and judicial parts of our system have malfunctioned.  Ultimately, this may change, but I wonder if that would be the case if there had not been so much public attention.  I think not.  Since Trayvon was killed, there have been 16 killings, attributable to race, which have not received any amount of public scrutiny.

I sympathize with Trayvon's parents, and can never truly understand the underlying fear that parents must have for the safety of their children if they are poor, minority or of some other group that might be targeted.  But as I have already said, the white middle class is not immune, and if the conditions which allow such killings are not controlled and eliminated, we may be hearing about killings in revenge, but with no relation to the kids who are killed.  They will be declared as random or unrelated, but we will all know that the reason was simply a response to our failure to demand justice when we know that it has been ignored.

I don't know what happened when Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman met that night in Florida.  I do know that Zimmerman admitted the killing.  I also know that were the roles reversed, Trayvon would have been arrested.  Period.  No question.  Only through a court process will the events be presented and judged.  I don't know what the outcome will be.  But I have studied history, and there are many examples of institutional failures which led to the end of civilized society.  We have seen it before and we have today a much more rapid means to let the world know what is going on.  The social media has helped to end the regime in Egypt.  It has described the situation in Libya and in Syria.  It has expanded the "99%" movement, and has a major role in political activities here.  The use of the ether can be a source to change our social interactions for the benefit of all, or it can be a source of creating warring factions which will destroy what we all want to consider a civilized society.

There are two common factors that connect unrest with uprising.  The first is a fertile environment; the second is guns.  And without the second, you can grow flowers.

Thanks for stopping by.