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StumbleIn search of the source of America’s gun obsession
Saturday, April 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.
I love to shoot guns as much as the next red-blooded American — hunting rifles at home in Vermont with friends, Glocks in Pittsburgh with cousins; I understand the excitement and the rush and the eventual calm that shooting enthusiasts so enjoy. But at no point in my life have I ever felt compelled to carry or own a gun.
Since Barack Obama has taken office, gun sales across America have surged. Firearm purchases under a Democratic president appear absolutely recession proof.
What is this American fixation with firearms? Is it similar to the macho car fanaticism that’s so prevalent here but rather absent elsewhere in the world?
It’s a question I’ve been asked countless times, and one that is nearly impossible to answer. Is it the lasting bloodline of a nation of frontiersmen, born from armed struggle against an empire? Is it the legacy of personal determinacy, of a bootstrap nation that’s obsessed with self-sufficiency?
FBI background checks required to purchase firearms numbered 7 million from November to February, up 1.2 million from a year before. The surge may be in part be fueled by the collapse of the economy and fears of more prevalent crime, but many are tracing the increase to expectations of tighter regulation emerging from the White House.
The anxiety, many on the left contend, is being unjustly fueled by the National Rifle Association. Regardless of the source, the American affinity for guns baffles me and many in the broader world.
The chances of an armed gunman laying siege to a college- or graduate-level class that I’m part of are small enough that I’d prefer that my classmates and nearsighted professor not have 9 mms lurking in their waistbands. I trust the odds — as I do when boarding a plane — more than a nerd’s marksmanship and tactics. I know the most likely situation in which I’ll be confronted with an armed rogue will be if he’s robbing a local store or place I’m staying — a situation in which all involved are likely best off if he leaves with some cash and all weapons are kept from discharging.
With 250 million guns owned in the U.S. today — it’s as if we’re permanently awaiting a siege that will never come — there’s simply no hope of eradicating arms from the American equation.
To the chagrin of conservatives, Nancy Pelosi recently said that Obama doesn’t want people’s guns, only that their guns be registered. That’s a crucial first step. But it only has consequences if it’s coupled with exceedingly thorough crackdowns on possession of unregistered firearms.
In theory, criminals are the only ones who should have such unlicensed goods. Why not raise the marginal cost of gun crimes substantially? Why not make possession of an unregistered firearm, whether one brandishes it or not, a sentence punishable by life in prison?
Avid supporters routinely point to those rare instances in which gun-toting citizens have stopped gunmen amid their rampages, such as in Pearl, Miss., in 1997 — where an assistant principal wielding a handgun stopped a student assassin midrampage — as the rationale for a greater share of society carrying weapons. They also point to statistics in which tens of thousands of Americans allege to have drawn a gun in self-defense each year.
In how many of those instances were lives truly in danger, though? And how many of such occurrences would have come to be if it weren’t so easy for criminals to acquire arms? And do those rare successful heroes really offset those thousand-plus accidental gun deaths per year?
Somehow, the Second Amendment, to my ear, rings of the needs of an agrarian society that knew it would likely find itself under empirical siege once more in the years to come: “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 framers, I imagine, weren’t likely thinking of a nation armed with B-2 bombers and assault rifles that fire 50 rounds per second when they drafted the amendment. But if they had the foresight to imagine such weapons, wouldn’t they have perhaps written the Second in a deft manner that would lead us to question its applicability? Perhaps putting the clause in reference to a broader context?
Brian Till, a columnist for Creators Syndicate, is a research fellow for the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington.
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"I would never invade the United States, there would be a gun behind every blade of grass."
- Isoroku Yamamoto, Fleet Admiral, Commander-in-Chief, Imperial Japanese Navy
Now, I don't know if he actually said that or not because I wasn't there but that's a pretty good reason why we've never been invaded by a foreign country.
It's not a fixation, it's not a macho thing, it's not about the struggle against an empire or even an obsession. It's about one thing and one thing only: FREEDOM.
Freedom is why I CHOSE to serve my country just like millions have done before me and will continue to do so long after I'm gone. Freedom is why I'm able to write this comment. Freedom is why you are able to write your column.
And Brian, I know you'll never read my comments but I have to correct you on something. First of all, the term "assault rifle"? Come on, we all know it's just an anti-gun term to make all guns sound bad. Second, an "assault rifle" that can fire 50 rounds per second? That's 3,000 rounds per minute. They only exist in Hollywood because there is no such thing in real life. Yes there are weapons that can fire over 3000 rounds per minute but they're not rifles and I'd like to see you try to buy one at a local gun store. Again, it's just more anti-gun talk that has no truth at all.
Like I said before, freedom is why you are able to write your column. What if someone wanted to take that freedom away from you? Wouldn't you point to the first ammendment and tell them that you have the right to write what you want? Would you question our forefathers about that?
Freedom Brian, it's all about freedom.
Brian,
There is an excellent rebuttal to your article about America's Gun Obsession in the Las Vegas Sun. The person who wrote it doesn't think you will see it and he is probably right. You probably have no idea who picks up your columns for their newspapers. That is why I researched you on the internet and found what I think is your direct email contact. His main point is that it's all about freedoms. People like you have blinders on and you would most likely not care about loosing freedoms here and there until our precious 1st amendment starts getting attacked, then you will know exactly how gun owners feel. You're opinions don't seem to fit with the New America Foundation's ideals either. I researched them as read their mission statement. I will be sure to copy them with my comments.
Your web page seems to indicate that you are young and it shows. I worry more about people like you spouting unfounded facts in a written column then I do about people who own firearms. As a journalist you should know that the term assault weapons is a media invented term. The military sure didn't invent it. It is all to invoke fear into the public for support to control guns. What kind of research did you do to spout off a comment like an assault rifle can fire 50 rounds per second? That is utterly ridiculous, first of all that would be a machine gun and as I mentioned there is no such thing as assault rifle. Our military are the only ones who possess those weapons. Just more typical left wing fear mongering. Also, it would be almost impossible for the above average citizen to own a machine gun of that nature. It's about our freedoms Brian.
You also try to throw aside the fact that Americans defend themselves with firearms. You can't deny that the media is way too far to the left and they are not going to report the majority of these incidents and the police do not post these things in the newspaper each time they happen. Your article started out with promise but quickly deteriorated. Especially when you tried to hang your hat on Pelosi's coat tail. She is a disgrace to this country. Everything she touches turns to mud, not just her ideas about gun control. When are you guys in the media going to start attacking the automobile unions for taking down the auto industry? It's about our freedoms Brian.
One last thing and this might be a little insight as to why Americans own guns - because we can and we want our own so we don't have to mooch off our relatives or friends if we want to shoot a gun or go hunting. Just like we own cars, houses, clothes, lawn movers, etc. etc. etc. Did you happen to at least buy your own ammo or did you mooch that too? It's about our freedoms Brian.
David in Las Vegas
The Democrats have a obession to take guns away from Americans.
In brief, I returned to my apartment with my girlfriend after an evening out...after getting somewhat settled in the living room we discovered that we had interrupted two men in the process of burglarizing my possessions... They pointed a gun at us, took us to a back bedroom demanding more than they had already found. Phone lines were ripped out, front door blocked (only exit) and through the course of 20-30 minutes beat me and began a sexual assault on my lady friend.
These boys were high on drugs and the fear their 'power' was generating. The situation was deteriorating rapidly.
I ended the confrontation by recovering my stored/hidden handgun and using it.
Though our lives were saved, I'm forever a changed person. I was with that woman a few years, but after that we soon ended our relationship.
There were lawyers...counseling...problems at work and the neighborhood...the list is endless.
I sleep at night, given the same situation I'd react the same way.
You can speculate forever as to how you would have handled things, or comfort yourself with thoughts that because of who/what/where you are, something of that nature will never happen...
I now understand that it can and it does, and if you find yourself at the point of "last option" ask yourself the question; Will you fight, or Will you die?
how many times have we seen news stories of violent criminals being released from prison only to have them rob, murder, and rape again?
too often.
we are not safe at work, school, stores, or at home.
instead of patrolling our streets, cops are nothing more than salespeople using their badge and "speed enforcement days", also known as a "sales blitz" to make money.
nothing makes me happier than when i hear about some ghetto p.o.s. getting blown away when trying to break into a home.
nnorfleet, Design Consultant -- you guys are right on.
Harley -- I can relate. Something similar happened to me, with my girlfriend and my son in the house, but no fatalities and a good police response. A loaded shotgun now lives behind my front door. And a loaded magnum stays next to my bed. Good thing you were able to get your equalizer. Believe me when I say if I'm ever in that situation again I would not hesitate to teach the intruder the true meaning of the Second Amendment.
Big natural disasters like Katrina have proven exactly what a dud government really is when and where it really counts. It was naturally up to the people to survive in that absence. A big part of that was being armed and showing it so the looters and other predators would look for safer victims. Big government's main response was to disarm the populace without respect for the #1 right every living thing possesses -- self-defense.
No legitimate state has ever had anything to fear from armed citizens. Too many of us have allowed ourselves to be pacified along with the rest of the herd into believing the same line the Khmer Rouge used before slaughtering a third of Cambodia's population -- "we are here to protect you, you have no need for weapons now."
Look at the history of Kristallnacht. Or this country's own post-Civil War Black Laws.
It was good timing when the U.S. Supremes surprised us last year with the Heller decision and made this bit of history about the Second Amendment clear: "The militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. The Antifederalists feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens' militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens' militia would be preserved."
That court boiled down Heller to this: "...the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table." In context that means our lawmakers had better tread lightly when considering new laws that abridge or violate what our Constitutions have promised us -- promises they swore oaths to support and protect.
The only problem I have with armed citizens is the sometimes stupid lack of common sense and/or training in the use of their weapons. If we require at least an understanding of the operation of and laws that apply to use of an automobile should there not be at least the offer of training for weapons? I grew up in a home with a loaded handgun and several unloaded long guns. I was instructed in their use and what not to do with them (play comes to mind).
I have myself seen police officers who should know better point their service weapon in the direction of another person loaded and with the safety off.
It is the lack of ability or knowledge concerning the weapon that concerns me; not the owning of the weapon to start with. I see too many people that appear to treat handguns and long guns like the cap pistols and BB guns they used to play with.
BRIAN, How old are you do you know the true meaning of personal reasonability you sound like some collage kid that still lives with his parents. 1. YOU TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED 2. YOU HAVE A REAL GENUINE FEAR OF PEOPLE 3. YOU DON,T EVEN TRUST COPS WHO ARE HIGHLY TRAINED TO USE ALL KINDS OF FIREARMS 4. ANYBODY THAT DO,S NOT HAVE A OBSESSION WITH SELF-SUFFICIENCY WILL NOT SURVIVE IN LIFE AT ALL. 5. RARE INSTANCES OF PEOPLE USEING A GUN FOR SELF DEFENSE IS OVER 2 MILLION CASES A YEAR. 6. OWNING GUNS IS A REASONABILITY IT,S NOT MACHO, YOU WATCH TO MANY MOVIES MADE FOR PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 25. 7. YOU ALSO SAY THAT THAT MANY ON THE LEFT SAY THAT ANXIETY IS BEING FUELED BY THE N.R.A. THE AMERICAN AFFINITY FOR GUNS BAFFLES YOU AND MANY IN THE BROADER WORLD, WHAT DO YOU MEAN LIKE THE UNITED NATIONS, IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE UNITED STATES THE UNITED NATIONS WOULD NOT EXIST. 8. ALSO THE VAST MAJORITY OF UN-REGISTERED GUNS IN THESE COUNTRY ARE KEEP BY CRIMINALS WHO DON,T CARE ABOUT LAWS ANYWAY. 9. ALSO THE ONLY REASON A SIEGE IN THESE COUNTRY WILL NEVER COME IS BECAUSE THERE ARE 250 MILLION GUNS IN PRIVATE HANDS, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN SAY THERE,S SIMPLY NO HOPE OF ERADICATING ARMS FROM THE AMERICAN EQUATION, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN WANT TO, THAT,S NUTS. 10. AND AS FOR GUN CRIME IF IT WAS NOT FOR BLEEDING HEART LAWYERS SPENDING MOST OF THERE TIME PROTECTING CRIMINALS RIGHTS INSTEAD OF PROTECTING THE SECOND AMENDMENT FOR LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS THE CRIME RATE WOULD BE ALOT LOWER THEN IT IS NOW.