GUN COUNTRY — The Weekly Opine

In hindsight, the 13 original states ratifying the Second Amendment was a huge mistake. (Photo credit and intellectual property belong to The Weekly Opine. All rights reserved.)

It’s getting late for never-was-great America

If, as many U.S. citizens claim, America is the greatest country on Earth, well then, Earth’s days are numbered. The way things are going, a certain Midwest amusement park may want to change its name from Great America to Mostly Good America. Or Often Bad America. Because clearly the U.S. isn’t as great as some people think. (Considering there is still widespread tolerance for abject isms like racism, misogynism, homophobia-ism and anti-immigrant-ism, America still has some ‘splainin’ to do.)

In this country there are many citizens claiming to be religious or spiritual. They vehemently argue on behalf of the sanctity of life. Yet, their all-to-familiar perfunctory turning of their cheek, in the face of gun violence, is mindboggling. Even a roomful of dead school children, at the hands of an AK-15-carrying 18-year-old nutcase, does not stir action from those with the authority to act. By now, inaction is not a surprise.

Everyone witnessed how the alleged greatest country on Earth offered up slowpoke resistance to the coronavirus, tallying infections and deaths at a global-leading pace. When it comes to the ongoing pandemic, America the beautiful has been downright ugly. A staggering 1,000,000+ Americans are dead because of the Trump/Pence administration’s ignorance, ineptitude and cynicism.

When somewhere around one-third of the populace has no use for scientific facts, instead taking their cue from a serial liar and admitted sexual predator (Trump), then greatness is not the proper description of 21st Century America. Wistful or con job are more accurate, e.g., America is the most wistful nation on Earth. Or America is the greatest con job on Earth. Cannot argue with either of those descriptions.

Loaded

There are more guns in America – around 400 million – than citizens (last time I checked, America has around 330 million citizens). Annually, more guns than automobiles are manufactured in America. Forty percent of Americans live in a household with at least one gun. Thirty percent of Americans own at least one gun.

The Second Amendment says, “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.” OK, how’s this sound? To buy a gun you must first enlist in active duty military service. (Photo credit and intellectual property belong to The Weekly Opine. All rights reserved.)

Meanwhile, state and local governments make it easier to carry a concealed weapon. Military-style assault weapons are readily available and easy to purchase. Just step right up, show your i.d. and credit card, and select your weapon of choice. Hey, don’t forget your ammo! Is there a discount for members of the National Rifle Association (NRA)?

While grotesque mass-shootings like the recent ones in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa garner headlines and evoke pleas for thoughts and prayers, in big cities shootings and killings are an indelible part of the canvas.

Over Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago, 50 people were shot with 9 dead. The shootings were spread out across the city but 50 shot with 9 dead is rotten, whether it happened in one location or not. I wish last weekend was an exception but no, it was typical carnage on a warm weekend in the Windy City.

Powerful voices

On the day of the NRA/Republican-fed Uvalde massacre, Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, offered up an eloquent, impassioned speech prior to a playoff game. Kerr speaks from a perspective of experience. His father was assassinated in Lebanon by the militant group Islamic Jihad. Malcolm Kerr was president of the American University of Beirut. Steve Kerr was an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Arizona at the time.

Last week, Steve Kerr poignantly called out the chickenshit, conservative politicians who are experts at doing nothing when it comes to sensible gun legislation (or solving any other issues that would make America great for the first time).

Just yesterday, Kerr told ESPN that “we are a democracy, and the vast majority of Americans want sensible gun laws regardless of political affiliation.” He implores Americans to pressure senators to follow the will of the people. Somehow, Kerr said, we’ve politicized murdered schoolkids. “What are we doing?” an exasperated Kerr asked.

Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, who as a presidential candidate in 2020 had the rightful audacity to tell the NRA we are coming for their guns, last week rightfully interrupted a post-Uvalde press conference. O’Rourke refused to stand silent as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spewed disingenuous, pretend-to-care babble. O’Rourke was led out by police but not before shouting that do-nothing Abbott is responsible for what happened in Uvalde.

Kerr and O’Rourke are exposing hypocrisy that provides cover for the NRA and politicians who support the NRA. The NRA provides financial support to losers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and, in turn, Cruz shills for the NRA.

Unfortunately, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both offered up uninspiring mush after Buffalo and Uvalde. The duo gave us the kind of toe-tapping we are subjected to after every mass shooting. Blah, blah, blah.

Every state has shed tears because of senseless gun violence. (Photo credit and intellectual property belong to The Weekly Opine. All rights reserved.)

Our northern neighbor has the right idea. Canada, which experiences just 1/8th the gun violence rate as the U.S. (0.47 deaths per 100,000 compared to America’s 3.96 deaths per 100,000) is intent on enacting strict gun control measures.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already sent legislation to parliament that, if passed, will freeze private ownership of handguns. The new bill would make it impossible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada. “Other than for sports shooting and hunting, there is no reason anyone in Canada should need guns in their everyday lives,” Trudeau said to reporters. Amen.

Compared to America’s 3.96/100,000 gun violence rate, China, Japan and South Korea are at 0.02 while the United Kingdom rate is 0.04, all much lower than the U.S.

Imagine and pretend

Let’s play a game of imagine and pretend.

Imagine the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was the membership organization for an industry that manufactured something – oh, let’s say guns – that were used to kill 45,000 Americans each year, including precious grade school kids.

Does anybody with a functioning brain think America would stand back and permit a Black organization to play such a prominent, central role in the violent deaths of so many Americans? No sir, if the NAACP was the NRA, they would have been shut down long ago. You can take that to the bank.

Go ahead, government officials and D.C. lobbyists, pretend for a moment the NRA is a Black organization. What would you do if Blacks made up 90% of the NRA? Why of course, you’d find some loophole and shut them down, post-haste.

According to reporting by The Washington Post, there have been 331 mass shootings at schools since Columbine in 1999. At least 311,000 schoolkids have been directly affected, some killed, some wounded and hundreds of thousands left cowering in fear for their lives. Millions of schoolkids, from all regions of the country, practice active shooter drills to prepare for what must feel like the inevitable.

So, close your eyes and imagine how schoolkids, who’ve survived a mass shooting, would respond if you asked them the following question:

Who do you fear most?

A) Black Lives Matter

B) Gay People

C) Immigrants

D) Muslims

E) NRA-fueled, AK-15-toting Gunmen

The unanimous answer would be “E.”

So now, U.S. government officials in Congress and statehouses, pretend you have a backbone and get busy passing legislation to make America safer from our preventable, unnecessary plague of gun violence.