Thoughts On "Bowling For Columbine"

Fishing?

Thirty percent of the adults in the county where I live have a conceal carry permit. In fact, the sheriff must have a compelling reason NOT to issue such a permit by state law. Without a doubt, the criminals have guns and I'm glad that law abiding folks standing next to me are likely armed and ready to deal with the types of violence that makes world headlines. Armed robberies and such are unheard of around here. Drive-by shootings and gang killings are another story.

Aside from the drug crazed and gang turf related homicides there are a number of reasons why we kill each other so often. Our society grades the value of life on a scale with the most expendable being the very young and the very old. The unborn are devalued entirely. Check out the sentences levied upon child and elderly killers compared to those in the prime of life. Statistics prove this to be true. Mental illness is another aspect that is in this curious mix. The late 70's and early 80's saw the wholesale eviction of mental institution residents. These poor souls make up a huge percentage of the homeless with nobody monitoring their intake of necessary medications. Health insurance coverage makes mental health treatment too costly for those needing it the most. Personally I see no difference between a broken leg or a broken mind. Both need to be fixed as best they can.

Most people are a mile wide and an inch deep when it comes to thinking these issues through. Everyone seems to want the quick fix and to hell with the consequences. Consider these differences when comparing the United States with other wealthy countries: The totality of individual freedoms offered. The constant influx of immigrants. The multitude of races. The volume of different religions. The various types of political persuasions. Sexual orientations. The breakdown of the family unit. Languages....The point I'm trying to make here is that the United States is THE WORLD mixed together in this great experiment. Does it surprise anyone that really getting along is difficult and without violence?

Guns and gun owners can't be broken down by political beliefs as easily as most believe. Classic, old school Democrats and Republicans share the belief that our Constitiution gaurantees the right to keep and bear arms. As in all cases of opinion, our press provides coverage to whatever group that boosts ratings and in doing so, minor players are often given disproportionate coverage which compel the viewer to believe that their numbers are greater than they are.

I wish that critical thinking were required courses for high school graduation. It troubles me a great deal that simple solutions are offered for complex problems and gun control is a simple solution. In my day to day life I fear law enforcement more than I fear my fellow civilian. And this isn't coming from someone that is anti law enforcement. Think about it. When police exceed their authority, who investigates them? I'm uncomfortable with all the potential abuses in the Homeland Security legislation. After all, the system isn't made up of special people. They are human just like the rest of us and history has shown that police will push the enforcement envelope and trample upon the rights of the citizens. Case law is full of examples of how police have been reigned in from time to time for abusing the trust the people have placed in them. To a large extent, Homeland Security has destroyed good case law and I'm fearful that the price we are paying for perceived security is much too high.

I'm sorry to ramble on so long about this as I'm sure most have given up reading this diatribe several paragraphs earlier. To those that are fellow citizens I only ask that we consider our similarities rather than focusing on our differences. To those that are from other countries I ask that you consider some of the issues that this nation faces that no other nation on earth faces in such magnitude.

Ben,

Your observations have merit in that most of us would love to have peace be prevelent in our lives. What I find curious however is I have personally known two British citizens that won the lottery to imigrate to the U.S. Both of these great guys are now enjoying citizenship. I met each one shortly after their arrival in Boise. The first thing they did was to buy a hand gun. They did this for the enjoyment factor, because they could and not as personal defense. One of the fellows took to riding mules in the mountains surrounding Boise and quickly took to the persona of being a "mountain man", complete with all the appropriate dress. The other fellow loves to fire his weapon at targets which was an activity so regulated at home as to be nearly impossible. Thankfully there are numerous places one can go here to partake in this pastime.

We have spent many hours discussing the differences between the United States and the U.K. One of the common observations they had made was that violent crimes against women and burglaries were much more common in the U.K. than here and both of these guys felt much safer in the states than home. They both expressed surprise that life in this country is much different than what it's portrayed to be by the media where they came from. Both of these guys loved their homeland and missed many aspects of living there but felt that living in this country offered more of everything life is about.

One of the biggest differences that they brought to my attention is that our immigration policies provide access to all peoples from all countries around the globe while the U.K. has joint citizenship as a result of expansionist policies from long ago. It's my understanding, as an example, that people form India, which was a "posession" of Great Britian, can move to the U.K. at will and this has greatly affected the "feel" of what was their home. The United States keeps it's feel because of open immigration. Granted, the feel is changing through illegal immigration, but that is another topic.

One thing struck me as very insightful coming from these two imigrants. They both instantly recognized that private gun ownership in this country ensures that our own government cannot run roughshod over the population. Of course, these guys are old enough to have studied 20th century European history shortly after it unfolded and were aware that one of the first things a corrupt government does is disarm the populace. They both recognized that even if the United States wanted to disarm the common man that it could only be done in theory. Most weapons are not registered since they were made and owned prior to such legislation. Nobody that owns one of these weapons would ever comply with turning them in.

The point I'm trying to get to is this: Our violence with guns and the deaths that occur in that fashion may be a less costly price to pay to ensure that freedom will always prevail here because of private gun ownership. Let's face it. We don't have friends in government, at least in this country. Citizens are a commodity; a natural resource. If our government really cared about we citizens (after 9/11) then we would be organized on the block level to care for one another and prevent chaos in the event of more terrorist activity. This was done during WWII but is not being done today. Why not?

The movie Brave Heart should be required viewing in all free countries since it's a fairly accurate portrayal of events of that period and should show that maintaining ones freedom is less costly than gaining ones freedom in terms of blood shed and lives lost. This is why a well armed populace is necessary once freedom is gained.

What is not discussed by Michael Moore is the accuracy of the gun death data. Many of the deaths are suicide. Many others are from police. Many are from self defense. Many are hunting related. Many are accidents. They are all rolled into one set of data to make us look as bad as possible for the purpose of disarming us. I for one am comfortable that the bureaucrats, police and elected officials can only do as much as we allow them to do.

I would be most interested in hearing a perspective from Thedautch since he is a politics/policy guy living in Washington, D.C. which happens to have the most restrictive gun laws in the entire country. Am I correct that D.C. still enjoys the distinction of being the most gun violent city in the country? Do the citizens of D.C. feel safer now with all the gun contol than they did prior to the newer restrictions?

These are honest questions coming from one who lives 2,000 miles away from the nations capital without benefit of being able to ask acquaintances.

Thedautch,

I appreciated your response but I really had all that figured out before. It's my understanding also that most of the guns are brought into D.C. from some neighboring states. My question is this: Given your familiarity with the situation there, the volume of weapons in individual posession, states rights, the illegal gun trade which criminals partake in and all other aspects, what is the answer? My heart goes out to the unfortunate citizens in D.C. that live that nightmare since, no matter how many bad guys there are, most of the people are just trying to get by and aren't part of THAT problem. Are the innocents better off unarmed?

Onhwy61, Afghanistan is a tribal society without ever having had a functioning government that represents all it's people. Isreal has only existed since 1948 by U.N. decree and the middle eastern tribes, right or wrong, have tried to destroy Iseal since that time.
Ben, You are correct about historical innacuracies but the overall story is true. "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" has been in our Constitution since 1791.....being necessary to the security of a free state indicates that this concept has been around awhile. This was the first Amendment to the U.S. Constituion which happened long after our battle for independence. We simply don't agree and I respect both your opinions and your freedom to express them.

Sean, what country do you live in?

Sean,

I figured that you were a British citizen. So, let's see....you want open borders between Europe and the U.S.? You're also going back to the U.K. and later plan on living in mainland Europe. So, if people vote with their feet you'll have plenty of elbow room where you're going to live. Pretty self-serving.

Also, if you have lived in California for the last five years you have a left coast view of this nation. I urge you to visit the heartland before you go. Many of us do not take the gifts bestowed upon us by our founders for granted.

Twl is correct that the wickedness is deeply entrenched in our institutions. Rooting out the bad guys and turning this nation around will happen only when the government has gone too far. Ralph Nader was not the answer and a European ideal isn't either. This country belongs to we the people and I'm reasonably confident that we will prevail.