Sometimes when I listen to arguments against gun control I think I'm getting beamed in from another planet.
This week a lawsuit against the new CT gun law was filed on behalf of a man with Hemophilia A. The plaintiff, Scott Ennis, is the founder of an organization called Disabled Americans for Firearms Rights, which has, according to Mister Ennis, "approximately 15,106 members." Approximately. This organization is steadfast in its opposition to the new CT gun law because the law severely restricts ownership of assault-style rifles which are particularly suited for use by disabled shooters. You see, the collapsible stock makes them easier to be held by individuals with crippled arms and hands. And because these weapons take magazines that can hold up to 50 rounds, shooters with arthritic fingers can reload less frequently, thus eliminating pain and discomfort.
Like that one? Try a few more below the fold.
The Idaho State House of Representatives actually passed a law prohibiting any Idaho official who would
enforce any order, law, rule or regulation of the United States government as provided in subsection (2) of this section upon a personal firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition that is owned or manufactured commercially or privately in Idaho...
Well, at least they only made it a misdemeanor if a police officer calls the ATF to do a trace on a gun used in a homicide.
But far and away the looniest of all is the law that was passed and signed into
law in Florida that makes it a
felony for a physician to ask a child whether there are firearms in the home. The alleged issue was the privacy of the parents not having to worry whether the government knew they possessed firearms. Did the morons who voted for this law ever hear of
doctor-patient confidentiality?
I can sit here and dig up all sorts of examples of the out-of-the-world views held by the pro-gun crowd but every time there's a shooting tragedy another attempt to regulate gun ownership basically goes nowhere and the killing continues. Gunnies are right about one thing: law-abiding gun owners don't usually go around shooting people. So if you try to reduce gun violence by making more laws that have to be obeyed by people who
already obey the law, they won't get all warm and fuzzy. They'll get loony.
Even the trigger-heads jumped on the bandwagon after Sandy Hook and
endorsed universal background checks because, like registering your pickup, it's a smart and sensible idea. For the first time since Obama's election in 2008, registered Democrats and registered Republicans actually agreed on a public-affairs issue.
But the rhetoric heated up in DC and the looniness started again. Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC)
announced that background checks meant the government would know the identity of every gun owner which would lead to a Rwanda-style genocide.
If the government wants to confiscate all guns and ship the gun owners east, all they have to do is talk to the kids. A study in the journal
Psychiatry found that the percentage of teenagers who knew there was a gun in their home was twice as high as the percentage of parents who believed their kids knew about the existence of a gun. In other words,
the kids knew what their parents didn't want them to know.
This is exactly how my parents talked to me about sex. They didn't. I snuck
Playboy into the house and read it using a flashlight late at night. Then I waited until my parents went to a movie and rifled through Daddy's socks and underwear looking for the condoms. God knows how I learned that unprotected sex could lead to pregnancy and the good news was that I didn't have to worry about AIDS or STDs.
Sometimes I think we've gone too far in the opposite direction, but I'm really happy that my grandchildren are taught about health and sexuality in school and that informed conversations about sex and sexual activity take place both on the media and at the family dinner table. Every once in a while someone like Sarah Palin tries to cynically promote a discussion about
abstinence, but not even her own daughter takes her seriously.
When it comes to sex we've changed the language and we've changed the culture. We haven't solved the problem of teen-age pregnancy and the debate over abortion continues en masse. But at least the issues are being discussed in more rational, more pragmatic ways. Why can't we do the same thing with guns?
I have joined a new organization which is trying to do exactly that. It's called
Evolve, and we are trying to create a space where gun owners, non-gun owners, activists and non-activists will come together and develop a new language to communicate about gun culture and find a sensible and workable solution to the problem of gun violence. And the solution doesn't start or end with the government, it starts with us - all of us.
Moms need to tell their sons and daughters not to mess with guns. Teachers need to tell students to stay far away from any other kid with a gun. Pediatricians need to tell kids that a gun is just as unsafe as driving without seatbelts. We all need to find a way to talk about gun violence - not just with people who agree with us, but people who don't.