This will be a short post. Despite the brevity, do not equate short with
unimportant. This issue is deeply
entrenched in contemporary American culture, and as is frequently evidenced,
can unexpectedly affect any of us.
I still vividly recall that one of the
suggested responses by the Gun Lobby and proponents of unfettered access to
firearms, in response to the December 14, 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was arming the teachers and
administrators. In fact, similar advice
emerged after Century Theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado on July 20 of the
same year.
As a card-carrying Concealed Handgun Permit
owner, not only am I personally comfortable with firearms, I am properly
trained, and have been qualifying on shooting ranges for more than 20
years. Still, the notion of vigilante
justice gives me pause.
First, I am concerned because I respect the
power of firearms to instantly and irreversibly change the dynamics of any
human encounter. Second, just as people
may be skilled vocal artists, or chefs, or public speakers, not everyone who
engages in one of those pursuits is good, or effective at doing so. The same is true with handling firearms. A clear distinguishing feature is that
typically the consequences of hearing a song poorly sung, or eating an
improperly prepared meal, or listening to an agonizingly dull speech, are not
fatal. Alternately, a bad encounter with
an armed individual may be one’s last.
On Sunday, June 8, 2014, Jared and Amanda Miller,
a married couple, shot and killed Igor Soldo and Alyn Beck, two police officers while they dined at a Las Vegas pizzeria. They left a swastika on one, and covered both
bodies with a Gadsden Flag, which is a yellow banner depicting a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike.
The words “Don’t tread on me” are positioned below the snake. The flag is named for Christopher Gadsden, who designed it in 1775 during the American Revolution.
After killing the two officers, they stormed
into a nearby Wal-Mart with Jared firing his weapon, ordering shoppers to
evacuate, and shouting an anti-government message. The two, apparently were supporters of Cliven
Bundy, the Nevada Rancher who engaged the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in a
20-year standoff over unpaid grazing fees.
In April they tried to join the armed standoff against federal agents at
Bundy’s ranch. According to Bundy’s son,
they were asked to leave for being “too radical.”
It was at the Wal-Mart that the Right Wing bromide
that holds, the best way to counter an armed mischief-maker is to be armed, met
with an epic fail as a strategy. Mr. Joseph Wilcox,
31 years old, happened to be inside the Wal-Mart. As fate would have it, he happened to be
armed. After observing Mr. Miller in
full rant, Mr. Wilcox decided to intervene by confronting Jared. Unfortunately, he was unaware that Mrs.
Miller, who was behind him, was with Jared, and also armed. At that point, she shot and Killed Wilcox
before he could successfully intervene.
Kathleen Parker wrote an article that appeared
in the June 10th edition of the Washington Post, entitled, “Armed
and Dead.” I think her caption writer
nailed it, as least as it pertains to my position. While noting Mr. Wilcox’s good intentions, Ms.
Parker argues that this example should give pause to any who believe arming
citizens is the best deterrent to a would-be killer. She goes on to note “the would-be hero in Tucson — when Rep. Gabby
Giffords and others were shot — was an armed young man who almost
shot the wrong person.”
I understand
one or two instances do not constitute a statistically significant data
pool. However, neither do the well-worn
talking points of the Gun Lobby. I
believe in the Second Amendment and its explicit conferral of the right to keep
and bear arms. Moreover, I also believe
in and affirm the Supreme Court’s ruling that such rights are not unlimited,
and may be regulated by the State and Federal governments.
Ultimately, I
am persuaded, the chicken in every pot, or in this case a gun in every belt
prescription is just, well, “Dead Wrong!”
I’m done;
holla back!
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