Gun Control Will Not Fix Gun Culture
We need to proselytize peace.
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Today I read an article about a man who shot and killed his neighbor because he was using a leaf blower. The writer described the incident as part of “a string of shootings in which people have been harmed or killed over trivial matters.”
Now I, like many people, hate the sound of leaf blowers. I’m sure some who feel this way have fantasized about shooting people who use these and similar noisemakers. Some might even privately — or publicly —applaud this execution.
Here’s the thing: US-Americans shooting each other with little or no provocation is nothing new. Some have suggested that the media is currently featuring these stories to counter the narrative that the shooting of Black teen Ralph Yarl was racially motivated. “See, white people get shot for no good reason too!”
Regardless, it’s due to our gun-glorifying culture that people go beyond fantasies of ending the lives of people who irritate them to actually doing so. They do so with legally-purchased firearms as well as illegally obtained ones. They do so with pistols as well as machine guns. And they do so accidentally as well as intentionally.
They do so because our media, our entertainment, and our government all promote the idea that pointing a lethal weapon at another human being and pulling the trigger is an acceptable, even honorable, thing to do. This is what needs to change.
This will not change by voting for Democrats. This will not change by banning civilian use of “assault weapons”. This will not change by imposing more restrictions on gun purchases.
To be clear, I am not opposed to gun control advocates doing any of the above things. What I am opposed to is the use of guns, period. By anyone, for any reason.
