This is a revision of a diary from yesterday. The approach has been changed.
Dear Gun Owners of the World,
First, I want to acknowledge that I believe in the 2nd Amendment. Second, I want you to understand that I know the difference between responsible gun owners and lunatic murderers. I am a gun owner, and I have never killed anyone. My father is a gun owner, and one day when his house was robbed, had he not been a gun owner, I likely would no longer have a father. I don't want the government to have to infringe on your rights or mine, but neither do I want to ignore the fact that there are right ways and wrong ways to react to perceived government encroachment.
I am an educator, and perhaps this illustration will help. When Bush produced NCLB, his education act, we all knew we were in for big changes. Part of the hubbub was something called The Spellings Commission Report in which greater accountability was called for. We viewed this as an act of infringement, and there were two ways we could handle it. The easy way would be to take up arms and start shooting legislators or others who disagreed with us. We could go out with a bang crying things like, "You can have my corduroy elbow patches when you pry them from my cold, dead blazer!" But see, we knew there were rules in a civilized society. We decided that we would mobilize to vote that idiot out of office next chance we got, but we also realized we had to get busy. Real busy.
Without bogging you down with the details, we understood that if WE did not figure out how to measure what our students were learning in a scientific and unbiased way, then THEY would come up with some worthless, one-size-fits-all model and shove it down our windpipes. We knew that would be to the detriment of student learning and also to our sanity.
So we got busy. Real busy. We worked on it solidly for a long time, and continue to work on it today, investing time, money, and a lot of energy. Now we have one of the finest assessment programs in the country at our little community college. And all because we knew that if we didn’t, they would. But see, no matter how hard I or my committee worked on the problem, it would not have been possible without a campus-wide commitment to the plan. We all had to get together, and many of us had to change the way we were doing things. There was spirited debate, and sometimes even anger and hurt feelings. But we got it done, and all of us are still alive.
You see, the gun problem we are facing today, as evidenced by names such as Jim D. Adkisson, Timothy Dale Johnson, Tharin Gartrell, Scott Roeder, and now James von Brunn, is a complex issue. I would not argue that all republicans are gun owners, nor that all gun owners are secessionists, bigots, nutjobs, end-times survivalists or murderers. But each and every one of those demographics is part of the republican big tent, each is likely to watch Fox News, and each is likely to be a member of or at least view the NRA favorably.
So what am I talking about? Well, as members of the republican party and champions of the freedom to have guns, it is also partly your responsibility to be accountable for that freedom--whether you are a hunter, a target shooter, or some guy who likes the peace of mind of having a .38 in the night stand. But I never really see gun enthusiasts stepping up to the plate for the personal responsibility part of the equation except to say, "I have guns and I don't kill people, so we all need more guns." Gunnies fight for looser restrictions, more guns and fewer gun laws, but I NEVER hear anyone say anything like, "And here is our 10 point plan to keep people from being gunned down every time someone disagrees with someone or just happens to be batshit crazy."
You say that you cannot legislate good or evil, that no matter the law, crazies and criminals will still get guns. Some smartass on the left retorts, "When they outlaw guns, only criminal's children will accidentally shoot their friends," and then, because of the extreme polarization of the issue, gun owners are forced into this corner of, "Try to take my guns, and I'll kill you!" That is, essentially, the NRA bumper sticker. But here is what I have learned from my experiences with education and Big Brother. If we had flat-out protested, denied, and fought the push for more accountability in education, they would have come down on us and forced us into an even worse place. It is the same with guns, gun culture, and gun laws. If you don’t figure out a way to solve the problem, THEY WILL. The solution the government comes up with will chafe, sting, and not fit for all of you. So in order to keep that from happening, you have to find a way to become accountable and embrace that responsibility.
I spoke earlier about the culture we had to nourish at our school. That meant helping each other, compromising, and working together. Here is where I would start on the gun issue: The well is poisoned and the atmosphere is screwed. The NRA does not care if you are a responsible gun owner or a member of the lunatic fringe. They cash your checks just the same. The Republican party is the same way. Fox News cares less about the truth than the anger that swells their ratings.
First, you should withhold your contributions to the NRA whenever they lobby against common sense. If you think people need an automatic weapon "to hunt with" you are likely a crappy shot and should take up an easier pastime, like frisbee golf. The NRA serves a purpose, but they are also kind of stupidly myopic sometimes. Think! And don't be afraid to call bullshit!
Second, you should turn off O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Beck and Fox news. They apparently have little regard for reality and seem to bring out the worst in people. They sort of, you know, poison the atmosphere and give you bad ideas.
Finally, you should vote with your ballot and plenty of good old American elbow grease. If you can't stand the fact that Democrats are in power right now, don't go on a kill-crazy rampage, organize yourselves politically.
And ultimately, if you don't want the government in your affairs, start policing yourself so the government doesn't have to. When Big Brother came knocking on our door, we cleaned up after ourselves because we did not want them in our business. I suspect you don't either.
PS. It won't always be easy. Policing yourself might sometimes mean alerting the authorities when someone who goes to your church, your bar, or your gun club starts saying things that you might kind of agree with, but that might ultimately be sort of creepy, insane, and violent. Like, if your friend Bob starts talking about going to the Holocaust Museum to kill some Jews, tell someone.