Thoughts and prayers certainly did not help the victims at Sutherland Springs Baptist Church. And they won't help future massacre victims, as our Congress and its enabler, the National Rifle Association, continue to spin the fairy tale that guns aren't the problem here.
Mental Health. It's a Mental Health issue, the NRA says. Newtown. Orlando. Virginia Tech. Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs and Killeen and Austin, Texas. San Ysidro and San Bernardino, CA. Edmond, OK. Fort Hood. Certainly nearly all of these "Top 10" shooters seem to have had significant mental health issues. Deranged, one might say. Maybe they were taking the wrong psychotropic drugs that accelerated their murderous zeal for slaughter. Or not being treated at all.
Earlier this year President Egg Nog revoked the Newtown-inspired regulation that prevented severely mentally ill people from purchasing guns. Yet he, too, claims that mental health issues are at the core of these slaughters. Huh. Just another shoulder shrug moment? "What ya gonna do?"
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221
That one didn't age well. The fact remains, though, that the use of semiautomatic military style rifles compounded the body count in these events and caused grievous life long wounds for the survivors.
The Daily Kibitz has friends and family who are gun owners. We're comfortable hanging with them, even though at times some possess gun zealousness that enters into the realm of the fantastical.
And guns aren't going away. The government is not going to go door to door and confiscate them. Nobody needs to bury them in the backyard - it's just not going to happen, no matter what our NRA buddies may say - Second Amendment, and all. Heck, even Mrs. Kibitz enjoyed a day at the shooting range with a high-powered semiautomatic. Guns are fun to shoot.
But we do need to be a helluva lot smarter about how and what kinds of guns are sold to the public. And why it's so vital for current gun control laws to be stringently enforced. So, let's take a look at Guns in America, and how the NRA evolved from a gun marksmanship and safety group to a gun manufacturer advocacy lobby.
First, there is the role of money. Gun Business is Big Dough in our economy: 50+ Billion dollars last year, when it's all accounted. It provides some 300,000 jobs. Check out the not-liberal-at-all National Shooting Sports Foundation 2017 report on Firearms and Ammunition economic impact:
https://www.nssf.org/government-relations/impact/
Then there is the bird's-eye view of how gun violence affect our society:
Naturally, with stats like these it shouldn't surprise that the USA leads all developed countries in gun violence - the "competition" can't even be seen over the horizon. We're Number One!
The NRA - the gun lobby - is a highly politicized group that counts 5 million members in its fold. It ensures that Nothing advances in Congress or state legislatures that will impede the ability to purchase nearly any kind of gun. There are 50 billion reasons for this. What once was an organization that was more concerned with gun safety training than anything else has over time evolved into a Big Business advocate, while keeping its membership radicalized with agitprop. For a fascinating look at how the NRA changed, check out this masterful look by The Washington Post from a few years ago:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-nras-true-believers-converted-a-marksmanship-group-into-a-mighty-gun-lobby/2013/01/12/51c62288-59b9-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_story.html?utm_term=.18d948b81953
"I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one... I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses... I believe in regulatory methods." said Karl Frederick, NRA president during the 1930s. An Olympic target shooter, Frederick would not know his organization today:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/05/the-forgotten-nra-leader-who-despised-the-promiscuous-toting-of-guns/?utm_term=.da37061f9d31
In fact, until the late 1970's, the NRA worked with Congress to help regulate gun control and safety. Then it was taken over by hard-liners and gained rivers of lobbying money. Read this terrific overview of how the NRA changed into the raging behemoth it is today. It explains the transformation far more succinctly than the Kibitz can:
https://www.npr.org/2017/10/10/556578593/the-nra-wasnt-always-against-gun-restrictions
And to help with its lobbying efforts in Congress and state capitols across the country, the NRA pushes a mind control agenda with its membership that would make George Orwell's Big Brother proud. Fear is a big factor. Fear of The Other. Fear of having guns taken away. Fear of being made helpless. Fear of uncontrolled change, and of a undetermined future. It galvanizes, creating a monolithic body that marches lockstep to whatever NRA leadership decides.
From an advertising perspective, here is how the NRA keeps its flock active, engaged and enraged:
https://www.fastcompany.com/40477572/how-nra-advertising-changed-the-second-amendment-and-american-gun-culture
The NRA's long-time president, Wayne LaPierre, is an expert in gaslighting his membership. Here he addresses a conservative political action group about the need for more guns:
http://www.businessinsider.com/nra-wayne-lapierre-cpac-2017-2
Following this speech, the NRA released a bizarre ad that seems to advocate a civil war-style violent advocacy against "the opposition." Again, it's American Taliban agitprop all the way. If it doesn't give you the "willies", nothing will. Also, it's interesting that the use of "They" is left ambiguous, so as to fill in whatever grievance the NRA viewer may have:
http://www.businessinsider.com/national-rifle-association-ad-call-to-violence-2017-6
Where does all this lead? To places like Sutherland Springs, Texas. If you can bear it, read the whole tale of how the church slayings unfolded, because it is worth the awful heartbreak:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-sound-of-hymns-drifted-from-the-country-church-then-came-gunfire/2017/11/08/4bd191b4-c4b7-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_texastictock-937pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.9934c8f7bab5
So... how do we change things for the better? Maybe if gun advocates could see the horrifying results of such high-powered gun mayhem, a chance for moderation might ensue. There was a video recording of the shootings. Should we have a mandatory viewing of the church video? Should we review the insane and grisly details of the Newtown Sandy Hook massacre? Both involved upclose mass murders that reveal the terrible shooting power of the semiautomatic rifle and the special bullets used. The Newtown guy lined up the first-grader kids and blew them into little pieces. The Sutherland Springs nut did the same, pew by pew.
Today the NRA remains on the side of the gun, not with the victim. And if you own guns and think that the NRA is watching out for your interests, think again about the 50 billion reasons they have other interests in mind.
Before jumping off, here again is the finest piece of satire produced since Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." God Bless The Onion:
https://www.theonion.com/it-s-an-honor-to-continue-being-valued-over-countless-h-1819585030
And let's close this set out with the sultry sounds of Nancy Sinatra, singing the Sonny Bono classic, "Bang Bang":
2 comments:
No," thoughts and prayers" did not stop the gun man but a citizen highly skilled in the use of them did.
I find your chart of gun related deaths to be very interesting. At a time when deaths by gun shot are falling it, is interesting to note that most of the killings are not attackers of innocent people but are people killing themselves. There are a million ways to kill yourself. Perhaps you are saying guns just make it too easy.
Yes, guns make it too easy to kill.
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