Guns! Guns! Guns! What do we do about them? How does what we decide to do about them affect out 2nd Amendment rights as American citizens? Guns! This is the hot topic nowadays on CNN or your local facebook news feed or where the hell ever and I'm sure the tone and texture of the conversation differs depending on which part of the country you happen to be in at the time.
Obama has passed a series of executive actions related to gun control ( though I hardly doubt any of which will actually prevent something like the Newtown massacre from happening again.) Senator Diane Fienstein of California wants to ban all assault weapons and is introducing a bill to that effect which according to CNN's Wolf Blitzer has no chance of passing. Guns! Guns! Guns! We Americans love our Guns don't we? Do we?
I like watching Bruce Willis cap the bad guys in DIE HARD just as much as anybody. I grew up playing with GI JOES and each little action figure came with his own special gun. We grew up watching movie upon movie upon movie where no matter the plot, gunplay figured a prominent role. Recently, as a Christmas gift I bought my little two year old nephew a toy gun that shoots soft darts that couldn't hurt a fly. But then afterwards I thought, is this where we start our infatuation with guns?
Maybe I should have got him that rad coloring book instead. Now wait. Just because I like DIE HARD and just because I grew up watching action movies where people getting shot and killed was routine, does that make me a homicidal maniac? Does it even mean that I might enjoy firing a gun at a target or an unsuspecting deer out in the woods during hunting season? What the hell does it all mean?
And if the government bans assault weapons, will this keep innocent people safe from violence? Or is it really a tactic to get guns out of the hands of citizens so the government can enact their tyrannical master plan and control the masses without the masses being able to fight back? The latter seems to be the opinion of conservatives who lately have been defending their Second Amendment rights with the zeal of a baptist preacher on Sunday.
I go to the art museum and look at the guns and rifles from the middle ages. Aesthetically speaking, some are quite beautiful with their ornate stocks carved from ivory by hand by a craftsmen five hundred years ago.
On this topic everybody seems to have their opinion and their diatribe ready to unfurl. I don't know what to add or what to subtract. I personally am not a gun owner. I see no reason to own a gun. Some people feel the need to own a gun for protection. Ostensibly, that makes sense I guess. I lived in NYC for three years and never once felt like I needed a gun for protection. Some people like to go hunting. I get that. I can understand that when you go hunting, you use a gun.OK, but it does seem stupid to be a 'proud gun owner'. Some people are just so proud of their guns and of the power they possess and that rubs me the wrong way and seems about as dumb as being proud of your shiny new car. Maybe if I owned my own gun and started shooting at the moon I'd get hooked and love guns and understand better those who are furiously against the government trying to control them.
Maybe if I had my own assault rifle like the kind used in the massacre in Newtown, I'd get a big rush of adrenaline and feel its power course thru my veins as I obliterated pop cans in some field or blew away a deer in five seconds easy and as soon as I got back on facebook I 'd post a big splashing sincere defense of my Second Amendment right to own firearms. For the time being, I'll just watch DIE HARD 2 and next Christmas I think I'll buy my little nephew a book instead.
Very nice!
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