Remember when I promised to continue my thoughts "tomorrow"? Well, for argument's sake, let us pretend that I said that yesterday...good, moving on.
My third thought in the Trayvon Martin case is about guns. There has certainly been a lot written about the fact that Martin didn't have a gun, but I don't feel like I have seen enough coverage of the fact that George Zimmerman did have a gun. And I am going to do my best to piss off Aaron enough to make him comment by saying that this is just one more in a million cases of violence that would be much less likely to occur, or would be much less serious, if we had some reasonable gun laws.
George Zimmerman had a gun. George Zimmerman used his gun, not only to shoot Trayvon Martin, but he used it to embolden himself to cause the whole incident in the first place. Since I don't actually know him, I am going to make a gigantic, and probably unfair (but more fair than shooting an unarmed kid) leap, and say that George Zimmerman would have been much less likely to confront Martin had he not felt emboldened by him gun.
Do I know that Zimmerman was a wannabe cowboy who was slightly paranoid and openly looking for excuses to flex his machismo in a pretend game of Cops? No, I don't know that for sure. I also don't know for sure that he imagined himself vigilantly defending the innocent against the nefarious intentions of the evil black menace. Do I even know for sure that Zimmerman is probably a pretty big coward who delighted in finding a fight that was completely rigged in his favor, then used that fight as an excuse to play out his own pseudo-military fantasies, and then immediately turtled and concocted the most asinine story possible to avoid answer for his decisions? Of course not...I have never met the man.
What I do know is that it is easier for George Zimmerman to buy that gun in America than in almost every other country in the world. I know that people like George Zimmerman are more dangerous in America than anywhere else in the world because it is so easy for them to buy guns. Every half-assed phony is a tough guy when he is holding a gun.
Yes, I know that a huge portion of gun owners are responsible and cause no harm to anyone. I have no moral obligation to hunting. I completely understand why target shooting could be challenging and fun. But we have no capacity to, no willingness to, and even a disdain for the idea that we might do something to try and keep gun away from people who just love the idea of being a heat-packing tough guy. Wanna know what I mean? George Zimmerman could buy a gun in almost every state in the country today...and whether or not you think he committed a crime, you would be a fool to think that he constitutes a "responsible gun owner."
Alright, so this isn't my most eloquent blog post ever, or even the best I have written about guns. But I will say it until I am blue in the face: Guns don't protect people. Guns embolden criminals.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Bang Bang
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5 comments:
I find this post interesting mainly because my husband owns quite a few guns, primarily because he's a big hunter and also because he likes to collect them. He's very responsible, has no criminal history and to be honest I do feel safer knowing that God forbid something happen he could protect us.
With that said I also realize that there are many gun owners out there that aren't as responsible and are in fact criminal. My question is, how should the laws be changed to better identify who should and shouldn't own a gun, beyond a past criminal history? If this Zimmerman guy has never been arrested before or have any other criminal history then how would a gun seller know that he would not be a responsible gun owner?
Should my husband be punished and not allowed to own a gun because of idiots like Zimmerman? It's horrible what happened and had he not owned a gun it probably wouldn't have happened but the fact is guns don't kill people- people kill people.
Believe it or not I'm not exactly Pro-NRA, I don't particularly like guns myself but I think if you are responsible about them you should be able to own one.
Agree agree agree.
Because I live in the midwest, I've heard a lot about the gun control issue because of this tragedy. I thought it was interesting: apparently when you go to a class to get your concealed weapon license (or whatever it's called), they teach you that just because you now have the right to carry a gun, you have NO RIGHT to brandish your weapon. You have NO RIGHT to pull your gun on another citizen for whatever reason. Zimmerman may have passed whatever test to become neighborhood watchman and carry a gun, but he never had the right to kill a kid because he was walking on a dark street. There is absolutely no excuse for pulling his gun out, let alone using it.
A truly responsible gun owner would have known this.
When you choose to live in a country that has, oh I don't know, an organized government and laws that citizens must follow, everyday citizens are often "punished" for the betterment of the whole population. Sure, I might be able to drive 100 miles an hour safely, but not everyone can (nor should). That's why we have speed limits. There are a gazillion other federal and state laws on the books for the exact same reason - in a silo, maybe the (possible) behavior isn't so bad, but when you consider a whole population taking on that same behavior, it is definitely cause for alarm. GUNS clearly fall into this category. I'm not sorry if responsible gun owners feel punished by gun laws. There are far too many people, the wrong people, who get their hands on guns and kill. Because the population at large is at risk, there should be gun laws on the books. /rant
Nicely written post, BTW. Might not win critical acclaim, but you get your point across. =)
Are you sure you aren't Cdn?? :) Love this post!
Most people who are killed by guns, are killed by someone who is illegally owning a gun. I myself am not a fan of guns, however I think by making laws against the right to bear arms in most cases you aren't going to stop the killing by guns. Yes in this, and in a few other highly publicized cases, people are dead as a result of the wrong people being allowed to own guns, but that is not the norm. I do believe there should be more loops to jump through to get them, that might solve the problem where law abiding but crazy vigilantes cannot get their hands on them. The thugs however will always find a way to get them, regardless of whether they are allowed to own one.
Jessica
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