Social Commentary: More Guns

I don't want to go off half cocked and be accused of being a flash in the pan blogger by spreading misinformation about the gun culture in this country.

Did you notice the bold faced words in my introduction? They are colloquial phrases commonly used in American English. They are also words gleaned from our obsession with guns. Half cocked refers to the "safety" position (half-way back) on a gun's hammer (full cocked means in the ready firing position). You are NOT ready to fire the weapon when it is half cocked. Flash in the pan refers to the burning of gunpowder in a black powder weapon's firing mechanism (or pan). When the powder in the pan flashes but does not ignite the main powder charge, the weapon will not discharge.

So the idea of guns is ingrained in our everyday speech, in our everyday lives. How do we find a way to reach people whose very essence is colored by such thinking? Even today, 9 days after ANOTHER gun related tragedy, we cannot find common ground on the issue of guns and gun control. The rhetoric has not abated. Rather, it has accelerated. Even today, as we celebrate the birth of a great man of NON VIOLENCE, Dr. Martin Luther King (MURDERED by a GUN), those who support gun culture have dug their heals in even more, calling not for more gun regulation, but, rather for LESS.

Florida has just proposed a new law that would allow it to join forty other states in permitting people to carry weapons openly. On Glenn Beck's website he decried violence right next to his image holding a semi-automatic hand gun!!!!! Sarah Palin continues to miss the point and dig herself a deeper hole by playing the victim's role. Poor Sarah, the press is vilifying her for her stance on guns, hunting, weapons, and life in general. Apparently, it's OK for Palin to use incendiary rhetoric but it if it used against her, she is a victim. DUH!!

And blah, blah, blah, blah . . .

Look, this terrible act was perpertrated by a very sick, young man. I don't know what ultimately motivated him and we may never really know. And I'm NOT saying that the recent inflammitory political rhetoric was the cause. I don't know if he leaned left or right. To me, ultimately, that's not the point. The point is that too many of us are in LOVE with GUNS and VIOLENCE. It is pervasive in our society: from commericals, to films, to TV, to video games, to our very LANGUAGE.

I am not necessarily against the 2nd Ammendment. It is a right worthy of debate. It must be interpreted in the light of the 21st century and what it means to and FOR our society TODAY. But we need to use this incident to STOP our fascination with guns and violence. We need to put the guns down, at least to take a breath, examine where we are as a society, and TRY to move forward TOGETHER.