I found this very interesting article on the BBC News website. The aftermath of the recent (and senseless) killings at Virginia Tech has generated, yet again, a heated debate about guns and gun ownership in the US.
Everybody has a view. On one hand, some think there are no gun controls at all (actually there are some) and many feel there are simply too many guns in circulation in the US. There are also, rather chillingly, those who feel that far from being too many guns, there aren’t nearly enough.
Like Larry Pratt:
“All the school shootings that have ended abruptly in the last 10 years were stopped because a law-abiding citizen – a potential victim – had a gun,” said Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. “The latest school shooting at Virginia Tech demands an immediate end to the gun-free zone law which leaves the nation’s schools at the mercy of madmen.”
More guns.That’ll stop the shootings. Right.
The article does address some interesting facts. Check it out and see what you think.
For example:
- After the Columbine massacre more than 15 state legislatures passed gun control bills or dropped liberalisation bills supported by the National Rifle Association. In most cases though, this didn’t do enough
- Bill Clinton tried to bring in tougher legislation but it proved to be very controversial and resulted in the President himself denouncing the bill
- According to the Pew Charitable Trust, support for greater gun restrictions has slipped in recent years among the general public
- According to a Harris poll conducted in 2001, approximately 39% of all American households own at least one gun.
- The risk of being killed by a firearm in the US is higher than in any other Western nation
- Not counting war zones, the risk is greatest in South Africa, according to a United Nations report
- In Switzerland where every man of military age is required to keep a gun at home as part of the country’s civil defence policy, the number of deaths per 10,000 population was 0.05. In south Africa it was 7.1, in the US it was 0.3, in the UK 0.01 (US Office on Drugs and Crime 2000)
- Handgun ownership was banned in the UK in 1997
I was a little disappointed though. Because no-one yet has actually mentioned what I think is a very important part of the historical picture – the reason that the right to bear arms in America came to be seen as such an important civil liberty.
Which is that the Founding Fathers didn’t trust each other and weren’t too sure about the long term viability of the Union either. And they wanted enshrined the absolute right of State citizens to own and bear arms in case State ever warred against State. They would have a large prepared, armed, ready-made militia. This indicates how, from the very beginning, Americans did not feel comfortable with Centralised power and were nervous of having one National army.
This is how individual State National Guards evolved. An armed, prepared and already somewhat paranoid civilian population – we’re talking landowners here.
It really wasn’t about entrenching rugged individualists fighting off all “gubmints, revenoors and Injuns”. Each State wanted its citizens armed and ready. They expected it.
And that little fracas in the 1860’s proved that they didn’t care about their lives and liberty, they just wanted to use them and their lives to die for the State.
But all that being said, the letter of the law does entrench that right and until their Constitution is changed, the letter of that law remains.
Technorati Tags: Virginia Tech, guns, Columbine massacre, Constitution
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
The BBC missed the ball on their stats, it’s 54% gun ownership in America. And the reason is not the radical anti-Government steriotype, I’ll tell you the best reason to own a gun, and I thnk you’ll understand and agree.
I’m bi-racial, I grew up in an all Black family. My great grad-mother died when she was almost one hundred and remebered her mothers stories of life as a slave. My family was some of the first Blacks to move into certain areas, Klan infested areas, and they used guns to keep them safe.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group, released a report called Black Out L.A. about pogroms against Black Americans in Los Angeles aimed at driving ht Black community out. This time not by Whites but by Mexican immigrants (some illegal some not) who’ve imported a culture of racism from South America. The news doesn’t cover these attacks as hate crimes, because White liberals “like” Mexicans more than Blacks. L.A. is second only to New York in strict gun control, but Mexican illegals run guns from Latin America. So law abiding Blacks are being picked off by racists from other countries and are unable to defend themselves.
The point is that I say Blacks in America (or anywhere for that matter) cannot rely on the largess of Whites (especially liberals) to protect them. Look at France where Whites are happy to Ghettoize North African women, condemned to being gang-raped by gangs they let run wild as long as they stay out of White areas. Look at Blacks in England, targeted by Arabs and East Asians, but what does England do about it? Have Tony Blair make some semi-racist comment?
Read Malcolm X, and if you ignore the non-sense in his writings you’ll see tha an important ruth is that Blacks cannot passively become wards of Whites, because when some group that Whites favor more, like Mexicans here are Muslims in England, start attacking Blacks it is always the case that Whites fail to protect the Blacks dumb enough to trust them.
I own a gun, not because I hunt or shoot targets, but because the left in this country is in the process of embracing neo-Nazis like David Duke, because my family are Christians who live near a Mosque, because my wife’s father is Jewish and anti-Semitism is on the rise in America (much to our shame).
If there were know guns, then when Duke supporters, or East Asian Muslims or Mexican immigrants got 10-20 people together with bats or knove to come for me and my loved ones, while Whites look the other way, I’d simply be killed. With my shotguns I can not end up beaten to death, a victim not just of racist violence bu of misplaced trust in the fairness and caring of White liberals.
Robert – thanks for visiting and adding your comment. If it’s 54% rather than 39% gun ownership that is indeed a sobering figure.
Yes it is. I love your site by the way, you couldn’t hear me say that before when I was way up on my high horse.
Robert – I wouldn’t have said you were up on your high horse… well, ok, in some parts yes, and you did make some interesting assumptions – but I did read your comment at length with some consternation.
For several reasons, I did not feel able to respond to it in its totality without the conversation possibly taking a turn for the worse …I didn’t want that and at the same time I had no wish to appear to belittle your experience – or to offend anyone. But at least I could respond to something!
Thanks for the compliment though… glad you like Like It Is
Gun ownership will never been written out of the US Constitution. The cops and military will always have weapons, and the general public is not necessarily going to go for them having them and telling the Average Joe and Jill that they can’t have them.
The best we can hope for is further modifications to the amendment regarding being able to have weapons. However, even with the ones that are already in place, people who probably shouldn’t have weapons, get their hands on them. The Virginia Tech incident proved that someone who appears to be normal can fake their way into having a legitimate gun merchant sell them a weapon. In addition, the illegal gun trade has always been booming, and there is no end in sight.
Hillary – I don’t think it’ll be written out of the Constitution either. It must be an American thing though that just because the law enforcement has guns the average Joe should have them too. Unless they feel they need to defend themselves against those same law enforcement organizations? The average Joe isn’t in the business of enforcing the law or protecting the country… I don’t get it.