AMERICAN’S MOST SACRED LAW IS TO NOT HAVE TO BEAR ARMS!

…Couple with a loaded assault rifle walking through the Atlanta Airport

 

The NRA is the enemy of America’s true freedom, by imposing their gun values in our places of business.

As with many others, I was seriously disappointed when, after the massacre of the 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, that the bill for gun purchase background checks failed to pass in the US Senate.  Yes, even with those 20 tragic young deaths, the cowardly Senators refused to pass a bill that would go against the bazaar antics of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) had introduced a bipartisan bill that would require background checks for all gun sales. But back in 2013, the bill failed to get the needed 60 votes and it won support from only three Republican Senators besides Toomey.

For those that pooh-pooh all gun laws, it must be noted that a study was released this month by the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins University.  The study found that a 1995 Connecticut law that required a gun permit contingent on passing a background check was associated with a 40% drop in gun homicides in Connecticut.

We have all heard the old NRA talking point that, “Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People!”  But in reality, it’s a lot easier for “People to Kill People,” when they have open access to a firearm.

All one has to do is to look at all the countries that have stricter gun laws, their number of homicides and suicides by guns have much lower percentages than the US.

The good news is that since this latest, horrible massacre of nine blacks at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, both the Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are looking to bring back the bill that did not pass requiring background checks.  And by-the-way, in a recent national poll, almost 90% of those asked agreed that there should be required background checks before buying a gun, any gun.

But my idea is that I think this country needs a different approach for dealing with the purchase of a firearm.

First, we must admit that this country is already overwhelmed with firearms.  Even with a country like Switzerland that requires that every Swiss head of household is required to have a firearm, the statistics are that in America, there are 88.8 guns for every single American.  In Switzerland, there are only 45.7 guns for every 4 Swiss citizens.  America is so far ahead of all the other nations on the number of available guns, one might ask , “So, how would a strict gun law make it better in the US?”

The issue is not the nation’s number of guns. That train already left the station.  The issue is “the ready availability of a firearm”.  “Availability” to those that shouldn’t have one in the first place, such as a mentally disturbed individual, or a highly depressed person, or an ex-felon or an enraged neighbor or family member.

What it may take to get the public on the right side is a public service approach on behalf of the health and safety of us all.  Just as the “Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)” campaign did decades ago.

Guy Molyneux, a progressive pollster, has laid out a possible plan. “We need to build a social movement devoted to the simple proposition that owning handguns makes us less safe, not more,” he said. “The evidence is overwhelming that having a gun in your home increases the risks of suicide, domestic violence and fatal accidents.  Yet the number one reason given for gun purchases is ‘personal safety. We need a public health campaign on the dangers of gun ownership, similar to the successful efforts against smoking and drunk driving.”

Washington Post’s E.J Dionne has also had this same idea.  He wrote: “The facts were on the side of those who battled the tobacco companies, and they are just as compelling here. When we talk about guns, we don’t focus enough on the reality, reported in the 2015 Annual Review of Public Health, that nearly two-thirds of the deaths from firearm violence are suicides. Yes, people can try to kill themselves with pills, but there’s no coming back from a gunshot to the head. Those in the throes of depression who have a gun nearby are more likely to act on their darkest impulses.”

The point is that the NRA will always go after the Second Amendment issue.  But the focus needs to get away from the NRA‘s “Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People!”  Instead, it should be that you just shouldn’t own a gun, any gun.  It should be that you shouldn’t own a hand gun, especially in a house with children.

Remember that the smoking issue went with examples of what smoking does to you and your body and the resulting emphysema or lung cancer.  The massive promotion of not driving when you drink caused the politicians to change the DUI laws to become more strict with larger fines, longer jail terms, longer periods for losing your driver’s license and costlier auto insurance.

Mr. Molyneux also said his approach “does not imply giving up on gun control legislation. On the contrary, the best path to better laws is to foster a revolution in popular attitudes. [As was achieved with MADD and the anti-smoking approach] And this approach would finally put the rights of non-gun owners at the center of the discussion.“  He says the rights of the non-gun owner needs to be the prime focus.  “Those of us who want to live, shop, go to school and worship in gun-free spaces also have rights,” Molyneux said. “In what way is our ‘freedom’ advanced by telling the owner of a bar or restaurant they cannot ban handguns in their own place of business, as many states now do? Today, it is the NRA that is the enemy of freedom, by seeking to impose their gun values on everyone else.”

These gun nuts are getting so bold today that they are open-carrying assault rifles through airports and train stations, as occurred at the Atlanta Airport last week.  All the airport gun carrier would say was, “Well, you just never know when you’re going to need a gun.”  The assault gun was loaded with 100 rounds of ammo.  You may not be aware, but “Open Carry” is legal today in 44 US airports.  There were also recent multiple open-carry issues on the DC Metro train in Virginia.

E.J. Dionne has suggested: “The nation could ring out with the new slogans of liberty: “Not in my house.” “Not in our school.” “Not in my bar.” “Not in our church.” We’d be defending one of our most sacred rights: The right not to bear arms.”

Sounds a bit iffy, but it’s definitely worth a try.

Copyright G.Ater  2015