The reason that I believe this? Let's
take a look at the National Rifle Association. The NRA was once an
honorable organization that trained youth organizations and police
departments in firearm safety, marksmanship, and responsible gun use.
Today, the NRA is a political shill for any private interest that
contributes to their organization. I go to the San Diego Police
Range on a regular basis to practice my pistol and revolver skills.
I don't see much good the NRA is doing for the citizens of San Diego
at the San Diego Police Range. As a matter of fact, I was a federal
law enforcement officer from 1995-1998. The NRA called me a
jackbooted thug when I was risking my life keeping the violent
convicted felons inside the walls of a correctional institution. I
am not a member of the NRA, but I constantly get the fear mongering
propaganda in the mail from them. The NRA is always asking me to
become a member, contribute to the NRA to protect my gun rights. How
do they get my mailing address? Every time I buy ammunition,
accessories, or firearms, there is a data mining involved with the
purchase account that spits out my personal information to the NRA.
Who pays for this data mining? The NRA of course. Does the NRA have
it in its best interest to permanently solve the gun rights issue?
No, they would have to go back to serving the American shooting
public in a nonpolitical way. There is no money or glory in that.
On the other hand, as a person who has
run for local public office I get solicitations from many nonprofit
groups. One of these non profits is Handgun Control Inc. They are
the opposite end of the Gun Rights group from the NRA. They are just
as interested in ending gun violence as the NRA is. If gun violence
disappeared tomorrow, Handgun Control Inc. would have no reason to
exist. No reason to pay their executives, directors, and employees
the salaries that they make. This is also true of the Center to
Prevent Gun Violence and all of the other non government
organizations that reap massive donations after some insane person
shoots up a business, school, church, or other gathering place. Over
the years, I have received many solicitations, surveys, and other
correspondence from these organizations. I have noticed in all of
these solicitations, they don't post, write, or even reference the
four firearm safety rules. You would think that an organization that
espouses the need for firearm safety would be interested in helping
their fellow citizens understand the four basic rules for safe
firearm ownership.
Since I have brought up the Four
Firearm Safety Rules, I feel that I must post them for everyone's
personal knowledge:
- All firearms are always loaded
- Never let your muzzle cover anything that you are not willing to destroy.
- Never place your finger on the trigger, unless your sights are on target and you are ready to fire.
- Be sure of your target, what is behind your target, and the range conditions around you.
The second firearm safety rule also
applies to all of the classes of guns from above. This rule pertains
to every case a firearm in in the hands of a human being.
The third firearm safety rule is
probably the most broken rule of the four. It is also the rule that
causes the most unintentional discharges of firearms.
The fourth firearm safety rule is the
one that experts and beginners seem to forget in the heat of the
moment the most. This leads me to believe that everyone should be
especially vigilant about all shooters following it.
The next issue that has to be addressed
in our gun culture is education. In America today, there are over
300,000,000 firearms. There are also 100,000,000 gun owners who own
those firearms. Why does our public school system not have a portion
of health education dedicated to firearm safety? Why do our academic
scholars, teachers, and public safety professionals not have answers
about firearm safety in their education and syllabuses? We have
20,000 firearm homicides, suicides, and accidents a year in this
country, but no tangible assets assigned to educating the American
people about the safety issues, morality, and legal implications for
the use of firearms. If this situation involved automobiles, power
tools, or industrial equipment, there would be a comprehensive
education program that would concentrate on promoting and improving
safety.
The next factor that affects our gun
culture is the media. The media has to be the most mercenary factor
in the gun issue. The news media needs circulation. This is true of
television, radio, and print. The news media loves sensationalism,
sensationalism sells papers, commercial content, and advertisement.
Movies show heroes and villains alike
violating the four firearm safety rules, callously killing other
human beings, and using firearms to solve problems that are simply
out of the realm of possibility. Video games are worse, the video
game's popularity has trained many young Americans to believe that
gunning down another human being is completely wonderful and good.
There are no legal or moral implications in the virtual world for
killing human beings. Couple this with a market that pays the most
to the game that is the most violent and young people are going to
have the wrong idea about firearm use and misuse.
Then there is the hypocrisy
of the television news media. The news media constantly screams
that there are too many guns and gun deaths in the United States of
America. They scream how the evil NRA and gun factories are at fault
for these horrific events. Yet, I have never seen a talking head on
any network use his access to the American people to state the four
firearm safety rules. Those talking heads are always in favor of
hunting and target shooting. They are always against those evil
assault weapons. They are always in favor of this gun ban or that
new law. I have never heard a talking head state honestly that the
20,000 gun laws that are on the books are not enforced. I have never
heard one of those talking heads follow up on a mass shooting in
regard to the people who assisted the shooter in his deed. Why do
the talking heads never give the names of the people who provided
guns to minors or crazy people who commit mass shootings? Why are
these people given a pass? Why doesn't every American know the names
of Robyn Anderson, Mark Maines, and Philip Duran? These are the
people who provided the Columbine idiots Klebold and Harris the
firearms that they used to gun down 13 human beings. What happened
to these individuals? How were they charged? Were they charged with
a crime? Why are the news networks not reporting these facts? The
prior mentioned individuals obviously violated firearm laws that are
on the books. Why doesn't the average American know what happened
to them or even their identity? I guess that kind of information is
not news worthy. This is only one example of the media's inability
follow up and live up to their responsibility.
Speaking of journalistic
responsibility, sensationalism always comes first. In a recent “Meet
the Press” episode, I watched the commentator, David Gregory hold
up a 30 round standard NATO assault rifle magazine. I know that this
show is filmed in Washington D.C. I also know that it is a crime to
possess, transfer, or sale one of these magazines in the Washington
D.C. jurisdiction. Why was Mr. Gregory not arrested and charged with
a crime? How did Mr. Gregory obtain this magazine? Who provided it
to him? Why does this magazine exist in a jurisdiction that it is
illegal to be in? I won't hold my breath for the answers to those
questions. Firearm laws have to pertain to everyone. No one should
be able to deal their way out of a firearm violation. I believe the
term “Zero Tolerance” was coined exactly for situations like
this. Imagine Mr. Gregory charged, tried, and convicted for just
possessing that magazine. Imagine how the populace would view
breaking firearm laws if they knew even the powerful and connected
could not get away with violating those laws.
Finally, there is the perception and
law as it pertains to firearm violence. Perception is one area that
the American people are misinformed. The term “Assault Weapon”
and “Assault Rifle” are thrown around by every media talking head
day in day out. The problem with these terms is they have actual
meaning that most Americans don't understand. The first “Assault
Rifle” was the Sturmgewehr 44. It was invented by the German
military industrial complex during World War II. The weapon was
designed to provide the German army with a weapon that could fire
both semi automatically and fully automatically. That means that it
could fire one shot for every pull of the trigger or multiple shots
for a pull of a trigger. The weapon had a selector switch that
changed the mode of fire. The German war machine was in a desperate
situation regarding raw materials. Because of this, the Sturmgewehr
44 was manufactured using cheaper processes like metal stampings. It
was also chambered for a new cartridge. The new cartridge was 7.92 X
33 Millimeter. This cartridge was dimensionally and ballistically
weaker than the standard German military cartridge, the 7.92 X 57
Millimeter. This cartridge was designed for three reasons:
- The new cartridge used less brass, gunpowder, and lead, and was weaker.
- The new cartridge was more prone to wound enemy soldiers, rather than kill outright.
- Because the new weapon was produced using cheaper methods, it would not handle the standard German military cartridge. The weapon design was weaker.
To sum up the problem of
firearm violence in America, we must consider more than the tool
being misused. We must consider our role in promoting violence. We
must consider the legal system's inability to enforce the 20,000 gun
laws that are already on the books. We must consider being our
brother's keeper, in regard to our family members, neighbors, and
friends who are mentally ill. We must consider that many of the
groups who profess to be solutions to the gun violence problem do not
have a vested interest in solving it. We must change our education
system to better serve the American people from becoming victims of
firearm violence. We must hold our media, television, movies, and
radio to higher standard regarding reporting the facts and reducing
the sensationalism. Finally, we must demand that our political
leaders quit using the firearm violence issue to raise contributions
and exacerbate a problem that is above petty partisanship.
In closing, the American people have a right to keep and bear
firearms, but we also have a responsibility to use them correctly.
The American political, legal, and civic ideals are based on
compromise and consensus. Let's move ahead and use the best aspects
of American life to work together to solve this problem.
-Paul Broadway
1/6/2013
