Just Shoot Me: Guns in America Part I

Several years ago, my sister-in-law told me I was very stubborn and opinionated. Until then, I had never considered myself either of those things. Over the years since she told me this, I have begun to realize that I am very much my father’s daughter: both strong-willed and opinionated. But while my father took great liberties in voicing his opinions on religion and politics over the dinner table – a social no-no – I try to restrain myself from voicing my opinion, especially on sensitive subjects.

I looked up the word “opinionated” online and it doesn’t appear to have a very positive connotation. In fact, I went to a link that described several ways to deal with people like me – as though I’m some sort of irritating insect buzzing around your ear. Then I went to the Urban Dictionary site and saw that “opinionated” infers that a person doggedly holds on to his or her opinions without considering any facts or the views of anyone else. Well that’s not good. Now I hope I’m not opinionated. Before, I thought it meant that I was passionate about a particular topic. Now, it seems, I’ve identified yet another character flaw in myself.

I’ll work on that later. Because right now, I’m going to voice my opinion. Brace yourself.

On my site’s “About Me” page, I talk about wanting to address social issues. I have very strong opinions on several issues currently in the news including immigration and borders, obstruction of justice and impeachment, sexual harassment, international relations, universal health care, and our asinine President — Oops! Did I just write that? — just to name a few. I’m not going to address those issues right now. What I want to discuss is gun control in this country.

Gun control is definitely a much more sensitive subject than littering or homelessness – my other two ventures into social issues so far and some of you, even one of my brothers, are not going to like what I have to say. That’s okay. What I hope to do is get each of us to start talking more openly about this topic – with our legislators, media, and, most importantly, with each other. This country needs to come up with a solution to the rising number of gun deaths we have each year and I’m so angry that our federal leaders have done next to nothing about it. Shame on them!

We need to start thinking about gun control in new and different ways. We need to use success stories from other countries. We need to demonstrate that this country cares for its citizens. That we are willing to forfeit some of our rights in order to save some of our lives.

I encourage your feedback, but no name-calling please. There is no doubt that I am a moderate liberal, but more than that, I’m an intelligent, rational human being who is willing to listen to opposing views. What no one can dispute is that far too many people are dying in this country from guns and the people who shoot them.

GUN CONTROL POLITICS

The politics surrounding gun control in this country. That’s what infuriates me and ultimately, deflates me. Congress has a gun control bill that has passed the House and is being held up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate. Why would anyone hold this bill up when the majority of Americans – both Democrat and Republican – support such legislation? Is Senator McConnelI the single most powerful person in the country? It appears so.

I am also concerned about the specifics of this bill. What are they? We’ve heard that the legislation includes the requirement of “background checks” but these can be defined in a lot of different ways. I want to know the details. Who is going to conduct the background checks? What are they checking? How are they determining mental health? How is the information going to be shared between states? It seems the American public was given a heck of a lot more information about the Mueller investigation than this critical legislation. Why is that?

And anyway, it’s not just about background checks. Background checks alone are not enough. I believe our whole system of gun ownership needs to be reworked.

THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

People need to stop hollering, “It’s our 2^nd Amendment right to bear arms!” Yes, our Bill of Rights, drafted in 1791 to protect individual freedoms, gives you, as an American citizen, the right to own a firearm. Fine. But you know what, times change. People evolve. Amendments have to change too.

Our Bill of Rights is a list of our country’s initial ten most important rights as citizens of the U.S. They were written as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which some feared might usurp the personal rights of individuals. Over the centuries, amendments have been added to expand our individual rights. I have to believe, that if we were starting a new country today, we would hardly think that owning a firearm was one of our most essential rights. Or even a right at all. The United States is one of only three countries where owning a firearm is a right and not a privilege. Mexico and Guatemala are the other two.

Some of the amendments to our Constitution helped add clarity in defining who “We the People” actually are. Remember, slavery wasn’t abolished until 1865 when the 13^th Amendment was ratified. And black Americans weren’t even protected by the U.S. Constitution until the 15^th Amendment was ratified in 1870. And women, the same thing. It wasn’t until the 19^th Amendment was passed in 1919 that women were finally given the right to vote!

Let’s rethink our “rights.” Forget about our founding fathers and their intent. Think about today. Again, if we were to start our country from scratch right now, would we fight to include the ownership of a firearm as a protected right?

Consider smoking. Everyone has the right to smoke, correct? And if you’re a smoker, go ahead, knock yourself out…as long as you’re not smoking near me. When a smoker’s rights impinge upon the rights of non-smokers to breathe clean air and not be subject to bad health as a result of second-hand smoke, the smoker’s rights have to be restricted, right?

There is currently no federal law that bans or regulates smoking for the whole country. The only federal regulations that exist are those that ban smoking on commercial flights and interior places owned, rented or leased by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. While states vary on their laws restricting smoking in public places, most of the states that have restrictions commonly have a ban on smoking in the workplace, hospitals and government buildings. In California, smoking is banned in all enclosed places of employment, including restaurants and bars. It’s also illegal in California to smoke in a moving vehicle with a minor. I’m sure there was a fight by business owners and smokers alike when these laws were first enacted, but we’ve all adjusted and we’re doing okay. In my mind, there is no reason why we can’t restrict the rights of gun owners in the same fashion. Especially if it has the potential of saving lives.

(Check tomorrow’s blog for Just Shoot Me: Guns in America Part II)