Carl Hitchens - tracking the self …
2013
Gun Ownership
A friend of mine, another progressive, recently emailed me, touching base on some social-entertainment plans. In the email, she asked what I thought about gun control. This post covers the salient points of my reply:
Being one who respects diverse points of view, I try hard to strike an appropriate balance between respectful dialogue and honesty. I do not believe, however that “agreement” is the proper criterion for the exchange of ideas. Mollifying someone by moderating how we truly feel to avoid conflict is deceptive and non-beneficial. Neither do I believe in returning harsh vitriol with sympathetic affability. Intemperate rudeness calls for a strong, non-equivocal response. Naturally, there are suitable and unsuitable times, venues and ways for voicing ideas and opinions, but honesty is always required. In that vein, I'll "bite the bullet" (excuse the politically-incorrect pun) in addressing the gun issue.
If I had my druthers I would own an AR-15 for parity with racist gun nutters that abound in this country, who link their prejudice, hate, and loose-cannon insanity with gun ownership. If I could have afforded one simultaneously with home improvement expenditures, believe me, my gun safe would have a particular German-manufactured model that I especially favor. Nevertheless, if it requires doing without that particular lethal device to fulfill my social contract as a citizen of the United States – contributing to the welfare of the nation as a whole – I accept that inconvenience.
It is ludicrous to fear monger about "despotic government takeover," to purposely excite racial divisions, and to historically ignore mental illness, as a societal concern needing consideration and intervention regarding violent behavior and the wide proliferation of guns. But the gun lobby has and continues to do so with practiced aplomb – obstructing every federal and state government attempt at regulating gun sales in a sensible, non-oppressive manner to dilute the illegal possession of these lethal weapons. Keeping guns out of the hands of the crazies seems too much of a price to pay for a safer society. Separating the grain from the chaff is apparently too life-threatening to undertake. Evidently, the right to bear arms divests society’s right to keep arms out of the hands of those for which we bear arms to begin with.
“Evidently, the right to bear arms divests society’s right to keep arms out of the hands of those for whom we bear arms to begin with.”
The unspoken truth about all of this is the deep-seated idea planted in the male psyche of this country for the need to be prepared for an armed revolution, an impending Armageddon along racial, religious, and ideological lines. That is a potent cocktail that has been served up daily from fundamentalist religion pulpits to the NRA to white supremacist organizations.
The reason I have a gun safe and conceal-carry in one of the most liberal gun-friendly states in the nation is because I remember being chased by white teenagers when I was seven. I remember watching the telecasts of African Americans being beaten down — dogs and fire hoses turned loose on them – and the spade of lynchings occurring throughout the deep south.
I support gun regulations and I support doing all that the law allows to not
be a victim of the male insecurity and identity crisis sweeping this country – where the gun has become the outward extension of virility in a nation that is becoming more and more racially, religiously, and gender-wise diverse – and more intolerant and militantly bigoted.
Carl
Gun Law and Order 1
2/2/13
The nuancing between "keeping" the peace and "making" the peace"—the gun debate.
This is a series of separate blog posts that I have done regarding the Second Amendment and gun rights … a kind of point of view montage, if you will.
There are multiple aspects of the “right to bear arms” from self-defense to freedom from tyranny, which pushes people’s buttons. And because it is a hot button issue, people have a tendency to lock onto one “feeling point,” and shut off from other opinions or facets of this issue.
