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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A Change, Regardless

The last few days have seen quite a bit of hand wringing, mouth foaming, frustration and outright anger at the fact that Congress left for spring recess without passing a gun bill. This impotence is compounded by the fact that the bill will not include an assault weapons ban and now likely not an ammunition clip limit. Gun control advocates are fit to be tied and Michael Bloomberg has taken to the airwaves with all of his cash in an attempt to stunt the NRA. I find it amusing that Wayne LaPierre, the head of the NRA, is so nervous about this that he had lowered himself to go on Meet The Press last Sunday.

Even Roger Simon over at Politico has blown at least three bowels in his recent piece.

I should point out that, unlike Dracula, LaPierre neither kills people nor drinks their blood. It is just my personal belief that the NRA’s gun mania has led to the slaughter of thousands of innocent men, women and children in this country.

Strong words, indeed and clearly accurate. But what good will they do? None whatsoever.

Yet, I find myself strangely optimistic these days. The way I see it is these things take time. Politico has another piece up about how Washington waited too long. Yes, that would have been really smart. Cobble together a new law and rush it through in the hopes that there will be no problems with it down the line in order to capitalize on sentiment. No thanks. I'm glad they didn't. I'd rather they spent some time on passing a law that can have a more profound effect. An assault weapons ban would not do that.

Speaking of which, has anyone considered that Newtown may have changed our culture, in terms of gun violence, so much so that this type of event may never happen again regardless of what new laws come out of Congress? Perhaps I'm being naive but I think we may have turned a corner, as we did with 9/11, and, in the final analysis, it's going to come down to local communities watching out for each other.

For example, I have a friend named Jane whose oldest son, Mike, shares many of the same traits with Adam Lanza. He has some serious mental health issues, plays violent video games for hours on end, and has access to multiple guns. He came after his dad once with a knife. His parents are divorced and he has been violently angry about it since it happened. After Newtown, I was speaking with Jane about Mike. The shooting at Sandy Hook shook them to the core and and they have gotten rid of all their guns save for two hunting rifles which are now under new lock and key up north at their cabin. Mike is no longer allowed access to any guns at any time. They have also become more energized about his mental health issues and everyone seems to be doing better.

They aren't the only ones who have changed a result of Newtown. The gal that cuts my hair (what little of it there is:)) has a brother named Bill who has a large collection of guns. He takes dozens of pills and drinks constantly. He's made threats against her and their parents. After Newtown, they went to the local police and got restraining orders against him. He used to be a firefighter in town and still has friends in law enforcement. They now visit him on a regular basis to see how he is doing and are trying their best to get him into a mental health/drug rehab program. Newtown made everyone in Bill's life more engaged.

These two stories are small, I know, but I think they are indicative of a sea change. I disagree that people have already forgotten and moved on. They cynics can go fuck themselves. Substantial, cultural shifts occur locally at first and so they seem to take too long and then suddenly it just happens. Look where we were four years ago with gay marriage. Look where we are now. Look where we were 20 years ago with cigarettes. Look where we are now. Look where we were 30 years ago with drunk driving. Look where we are now. The same thing will happen with guns, with or without new laws.

Even before Newtown, violence was dropping. It's going to continue to drop. Less people own guns and, in the future, even less will. People like Wayne LaPierre and other gun rights supporters aren't really as relevant anymore as their opponents make them out to be. They are built up into these gigantic ogres but they are only human after all. And, since they only have a single thought in their head, they will be quite unable to adapt to any cultural shifts that come down the pike regarding guns. It's happening right now and they can't even see it which is why they are reacting the way they are.

So, even with the inaction on the refinement of gun laws, today finds me hoping for the best. I realize that I may sound flip in my optimism with people dying every day from gun violence, some of which could certainly be prevented with new laws, but the responsibility for that isn't on me. Nor is it on all the people out there who want universal background checks on all gun purchases or other changes to our nation's gun laws. We all know full well who is responsible and so will history.

It's time to start thinking fourth dimensionally and take comfort in the fact that this is just a mere moment in time. Change is coming, regardless of what is happening right now. The horrible events of Newtown have changed our culture. We just don't fully realize it yet.

8 comments:

Juris Imprudent said...

The last few days have seen quite a bit of hand wringing, mouth foaming, frustration and outright anger at the fact that Congress left for spring recess without passing a gun bill.

Yeah and none of it from the right. Your world just must be upside-down.

Mark Ward said...

I guess you missed the point of the post, juris. Ah well, it wouldn't be the first time.

Juris Imprudent said...

They cynics can go fuck themselves.

No M, I was quite aware of where you were coming from.

[serene smile]

Mark Ward said...

[serene smile]

The fact that you have to write this tells me how terribly insecure you are about the current state of affairs. What I think you fail to understand is that no matter what happens, things are going to work out for the best regarding gun violence and gun laws in this country.

Either violence is going to continue to go down and spree shootings will become even more rare than they already are or the laws will change to make both of these possible. One or the other is going to happen.

Another thing to note is that, for good or ill, the continued adolescent belligerence of the gun rights folks (of which you and the others who post her are included) has ensured that the Bloomberg crowd are never going to go away.

Juris Imprudent said...

no matter what happens, things are going to work out for the best regarding gun violence and gun laws in this country.

That is an interesting perspective.

Of course before your party pushed your button you had been talking about how violence was trending down and people were being irrationally driven by fear. Once again - it is only wrong when the other guys are doing it; it is fucking wonderful when your side is doing it.

Larry said...

Violence is still trending down (close to half of what it was in 1992, and it continued down after the expiration the AWB despite all of the gory predictions of Nikto and his fellow fools). I think the only thing that changed for Mark is that the Party decided now was the time they could get done what they've always wanted to get done, but couldn't publicly admit. Thus the abrupt volte-face. Mark still says he opposes a handgun ban, but I think that's just posturing, too. If the Party thought that was doable right now, he'd suddenly be all for that shit, as well. Meanwhile, he plays Kaa the snake, and says, "Don't worry your ugly little heads about that. Everything's fine, go to sssleep. Trussst in meee, go to ssssleep..." In other words, on this as in so much else, he's as honest as a three-dollar bill.

Mark Ward said...

juris, I think you really aren't hearing what I am saying. I am being critical of folks on the left and their paranoia that nothing is going to change. It is going to change in one way or another. These are the same people who fretted that health care would never pass or that the president would lose to Willard. So, yes, they are driven by fear and it is irrational.

Trussst in meee, go to ssssleep

Wow. That pesky amgydala:)

Juris Imprudent said...

I think you really aren't hearing what I am saying.

LMAO - that's frustrating, isn't it?