Firearm Fundamentalism! #182 –Robert M. Shelby, 12-18-12. [1082 txt wds]

Civil society is at the mercy of the NRA, which has been a merciless enterprise. The so-called “National Rifle Association” is doubly misnamed: (1) the association is not backed by the nation, and (2) its interests are not confined to mere hunting rifles but include any and every conceivable kind of firearm, up to and including man-portable artillery which has no civil use. The NRA’s “philosophy” or “mission” is a net of sophistries cast so widely as to defy sensible understanding or power to distinguish rationale from mission. Nor can that mission or pseudo-philosophy be clearly distinguished from willful rationalization of irrational and unreasonable preference or wish. Plain, bad taste, as it were.

The NRA shows more concern for gun owners rights than for their responsibilities, and little concern for the responsibilities proper to a civilized association. Rights without matching obligations belong to a barbarous society and necessarily harm community. There are, after all, some who would gladly hunt cougar, grizzly bear and moose with hand grenades or fully automatic rifles with explosive bullets. Those animals are not good eating, so the hunters don’t care if carcasses are ruined, so long as they themselves stay safe from attack. A few join law enforcement for a rare chance to hunt people.

If the NRA could impose intelligent limits on itself, making voluntary reforms, very little fresh legislation would be required. We hear seventy-four percent of its members favor more and better gun-control laws than now exist, but the entrenched leadership stays intransigently hard and unyielding. It fears the “slippery slope” of complete, forced disarmament and the inability of scattered citizens to oppose the immense forces of a tyrannical government. Everyone knows this notion of revolutionary resistance is foolish, given the resources for coercive violence at a government’s disposal, even at the level of city SWAT Teams. But, stupid ideas still impress many in the rank and file as, somehow, ideal and just. They do not smell the coffee with the rest of us.

No, the NRA will not submit to the good sense required to change its own policies and practices. Why not? Many members are victims of a traditional fear of government that goes hand-in-hand with unwillingness to participate in democratic self-government. Members sometimes gain public office, but do not enter into it with open mind. They carry the limiting agenda of protecting the NRA as a foregone conclusion. They subscribe to an antiquated version of individualist independence by which they imagine firearms give them survival power to get their own food in the wildeness or take it from others weaker than themselves. They love the sense of power to impress or intimidate others by making big noise while perfecting marksmanship as a skillled  sport, like bowling or golf.

Sporting motives are okay if the related activities do no harm to people or environment. Sadly, random shooting spreads metals over forest and field where they do not belong. Eventually these metals hurt wildlife, soil, water and food crops. At second or third remove they damage food chains. One can only recognize, at last, that the romantic notion of hunting game freely in the wilderness or on commercial preserves, even under license and with supervision, is an exercise of personal desire that could well be satisfied in more responsible, less frivolous ways.  Gun ownership and firing have an imaginary aura of masculinity about them instilled by a rather narrow, subcultural outlook. Men need to be reconditioned to feel that shooting guns is an unworthy substitute for good human relations with proficiency at sexual loving. Love of guns and knives can border on perversity. Gun ownership often gives people a false sense of security, especially when guns are not kept in the home securely enough that children cannot access them or burglars obtain them in the owner’s absence.

We should not wish to deprive citizens of the right to own any kind of firearm they wish, but we must require them to be the right sort of people to do so. Background checks are desirable but do not in themselves guarantee stability. Distinction needs to be made between guns that can be kept at home and high-powered, military weapons that must never get loose in the land and therefore need totally secure storage. The NRA should confine itself to interest in bolt-action hunting rifles with small magazines. Hunters may prefer semi-automatic rifles and multi-shot shotguns, but certainly don’t need them. Good hunting by skilled stalkers can be done with single shot rifles or lever action 30-30 carbines. Use of long-distance rifle scopes ought to be considered as unsporting except in the hands of range-management officials whose purpose in the field involves something beyond personal pleasure.

Assault rifles, even minus automatic capacity and large magazines, have no place in homes or anywhere they can get loose on the street. The NRA should establish gun clubs all over the country where members can store such high-powered arms under lock, never taking them off premise. Clubs should have indoor and/or outdoor ranges for avocational firing practice where spent bullets remain confined for recycle through remanufacture. Special arrangements need to be made for resale and exchange of guns between members of different clubs, excluding brokers as middle-men who profit by avoiding background checks and helping weapons slip around the countryside or get across state and national borders. Gun shows must be fully vetted and supervised, not conducted as commercial free-for-alls by quick-buck artists.

Clearly, it should be unlawful for persons without established, good background to own or acquire a firearm of any kind. No military weapon should ever be found outside a gun club unless packed for shipment to another gun club. Transport should be made under secure means. Anyone found with such a weapon in hand, home or vehicle must be arrested at once and the weapon confiscated for judicial review and disposition. Additionally, citizens should be allowed and required to arrange with local authorities for identification, registration and keeping of all weapons prior to establishment of secure gun clubs in useful reach. Like car ownership, gun ownership should require training and licensure.

Lastly, private citizens have no need for semi-automatic pistols. Early revolvers of the 1870s had four-chambered cylinders. Six-guns were a later improvement. Nine millimeter sidearms and pistols with big magazine clips should be held only by law enforcement agents and military officers. From 22-calibre to 32-calibre revolvers are sufficient for personal defense. Enact these measures and death rates will plummet.

No Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email is never shared.Required fields are marked *