Professor Warren Blumenfeld’s manifesto on gun promotion and the (im)possibility of gun control
Giving new meaning to the term “hunting for a wife,” Jewelry by Harold owner in North Liberty, Iowa will give a husband-to-be a voucher for a new Remington 870 rifle with the purchase of an engagement ring priced at $1,999 or higher. Shop owner Harold van Beek told KCRG in Cedar Rapids: “So say: I’m hunting deer, and here is a diamond ring, dear.” To apply for this “deal,” one must be eligible to own a gun in Iowa, and not have been convicted of a felony.
In its attempt to pull in shoppers last year on so-called “Black Friday” (the day following Thanksgiving), the camping and outdoors superstore, Cabela’s, handed out envelopes to the first 800 people over the age of 18 who lined up in front of its stores before 5:00 a.m. for a chance to win a Browning A-Bolt Medallion .300 WSM rifle with a Cabela’s 50th anniversary gun case worth $875.
And maybe it’s not too late to go down to Nation’s Truck Sales in Sanford, Florida where two years ago they offered each customer a brand spanking new assault rifle with the purchase of a truck. Stated General Sales Manager, Nick Ginetta: “We started on Veterans Day. Hey, so many have given so much for this right!”
I’ve heard about people being shot from canons, but for those who want to remain active hunters well after they have “bought the farm,” now their wishes have come true. Be the first on your block to kill long after you have died. For the sum of only $1250, your loved ones can have you cremated with a pound of your ashes stuffed inside genuine bullets, resurrecting you as live ammunition.
For that measly sum, you can metamorphose as 250 shot shells, 100 rifles cartridges, or 250 pistol cartridges. For only $100 extra, until you come alive again as a killing apparatus, your bullet ashes can rest in peace in a decorative wooden coffin-like box.
The company, Holy Smoke Bullet Urns of Stockton, Alabama, has taken quite literally Shylock’s claim in Shakespeare’s 1596 Merchant of Venice: “The pound of flesh which I demand of him is deerely bought, ‘tis mine, and I will have it.”
According to the company’s founder: “You know I’ve thought about this for some time and I want to be cremated. Then I want my ashes put into some turkey load shotgun shells and have someone that knows how to turkey hunt use the shotgun shells with my ashes to shoot a turkey. That way I will rest in peace knowing that the last thing that one turkey will see is me, screaming at him at about 900 feet per second.”
Wow, in this way, you will obtain virtual immortality in the elk antlers hung over your family’s fire place or in the stuffed duck sitting on their living room side table. In addition to the decimation of wild game, the company offers this alternative to traditional burial as a means to “continue to protect your home and family even after you are gone.” So just think of it; now you can kill a home intruder by shooting them right in the gut with your Great Uncle Henry or Aunt Gert!
I would ask, though, have so many in fact given so much for the right for us to turn our bodies literally into killing devices or for the right to own a “free” assault or hunting rifle? Do we really want “the last thing that one turkey will see is me, screaming at him at about 900 feet per second.” Do residents of our nation really need so many guns, assault rifles and others?
The very first thing that caught my eye as I entered the grounds of the Iowa Republican Party Presidential Straw Poll in the summer of 2011 were three young children, I would guess between the ages of 4 -7, wearing day-glow orange baseball caps with “NRA” [National Rifle Association] scrawled atop, and round stickers on their T-shirts announcing “GUNS SAVE LIVES.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, gun related violence has reached epidemic proportions in our country by snuffing out the lives of over 30,000 residents and wounding approximately another 60,000 annually. Each year, over 100,000 people are affected in some way by gun violence.
Should any limits be imposed on the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads: “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?”
Certainly, Jewelry by Harold, Cabela’s, Holy Smoke Bullet Urns of Stockton, Alabama and Nation’s Truck Sales of Sanford, Florida hold the constitutional right to market their devices of death, but what type of messages are they communicating? Are we really “free” as a society when our right “to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”?
I propose that we reevaluate the political right’s obsession with the so-called “freedom” to bear arms because it is not only “criminals who kill people” as Second Amendment advocates claim.
- If politicians, primarily Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures throughout the country, spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to push through so-called “Voter ID” laws for the purpose of disenfranchising the poor, the working class, the elderly, the disabled and US naturalized citizens who have limited English language skills–all Democratic voting blocks–then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time in their attempts to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to defeat Democratic-sponsored jobs bills, attempts that result in rising unemployment rates and the US infrastructure turning to dust all to tarnish President Barack Obama’s legacy, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to pass punitive, dehumanizing, and, yes, racist anti-immigration measures, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to restrict and eliminate women’s rights to control their reproductive freedoms, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to push through so-called “Marriage Defense“ laws and state constitutional amendments, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to privatize government services and programs like public education, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, among others, and in downsizing the ranks of local police, fire fighters, and teachers, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to pass laws mandating English as the “official” national and states’ language, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to kill labor unions and their rights of collective bargaining, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to investigate, profile, and demonize hard working Muslim Americans, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to abolish appropriate governmental regulations of the banking industry, businesses, and consumer and environmental protections, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to obstruct all proposals for genuine and equitable universal single-payer health care, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
- If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence as they do in their attempts to ensure perpetual tax breaks for the rich and super rich, then maybe we would have comprehensive gun control.
But as we all know, the chances for comprehensive gun control in the United States is only a pipe dream since the NRA controls Congress and state legislatures, for if they did not, we would have seen effective laws passed years ago resulting in countless lives saved.
How many more Columbines and Auroras; Fort Hoods; Virginia Techs; Northern Illinois Universities; Phoenix, AZ parking lots; Pennsylvania Amish school children; Santana High Schools; Springfield Oregon high schools; Jonesboro, AR middle schools; Universities of Texas; Honolulu, HI Xerox Corporations; Atlanta brokerage offices; US postal offices; Omaha, NBs; Red Lake, MNs; Brookfield, WIs; Binghamton NYs; Carthage, NCs; how many more dead to urban and suburban violence; how many more gun-induced killings due to domestic violence; how many more accidental killings; and how many more Gabby Giffords and Harvey Milks, Trayvon Martins and Lawrence Kings? How many dead famous and not-so-famous will it take for this country and its politicians to wake up to the reality that, contrary to the NRA’s assertions, guns in the hands of anyone, in any and all stations of life, kill people?
Photo–dahlstroms/Flickr
Dear Professor Blumenfeld. How wonderful it is that you found the time to write about my promotion and use your “ink” to give me a color. Too bad you could not find the time to call me and ask me about the promotion. As a professor, I have been telling my students that it is always better to get information first hand instead of just the media. Your lack of research skills are at best ruining your ethical view on this matter. Maybe it would be fair to me and yourself to just give me a call at 319 665… Read more »
Professor Blumenfeld, What kind of social climate do you support when we give up freedom to gain security? You will end up with neither in the end. One of your founding fathers said that – It was as true then as it is today. I am a Canadian, and a gun owner and I have seen firsthand what ‘gun control’ accomplishes. In our country it is illegal to use force against an intruder in your home unless said intruder uses an equal or greater level of force towards you, first. You may read our legislation on this matter if you… Read more »
There is no commonality between criminals and gun owners…why draw a parallel and use a gun as a common denominator ?? Overwhelming majority of gun owners use guns for protection, hunting and target shooting. In Canada 97% of violent crime is done WITHOUT a firearm and even in that wee bit of 3% most years not even one legal gun owner is involved in a violent crime. Criminals use guns to control turf, intimidate fellow criminals and for protecting their sin $$, they routinely ignore and pay no regard to firearm prohibitions placed on them by courts and acquire illegal… Read more »
Someone mentioned drugs. They’re already illegal. So there should be no problem with drugs, right? Guns, unlike drugs, are not consumables. You get one, put it in your drawer and there it stays. Continued gun shopping–which is to say a logistic chain which can be interrupted by the cops once in a while–is unnecessary, unlike with drugs. Also a quibble: Assault weapons use less powerful ammo than full-size rifles so the comment about body armor demonstrates the point that “assault weapon” is a “booga-booga” word. Problem is, most people know better. Does crime cause poverty or the reverse? Figures anybody… Read more »
Apologies for the typos near the end. Should have been “guns” not “gus”, and “AnonymousDog”. Despite spell-check and proofreading, I sometimes miss a few.
I posted a comment in response to John Smith’s comment of the day from this discussion, and I really should have posted here. Well, here’s an excerpt of that: “For a time, I was a crime scene photographer, and I saw firsthand a lot of young men dead from gunshot wounds — young men who were involved in gangs, sometimes obviously involved in drugs, and who were very, very often non-white ethnicities who lived in the poorest parts of a large urban city in the US. I say this not to convey blame, but to help convey the sense of… Read more »
Anti-intellectual?
****If politicians spent as much time attempting to save human lives from gun violence…blah blah blah seventeen f’ing times dude???****
If THAT whine-spasm, hissy-fit was Iowa State’s version of “Intellectual….” LOL…..oh God save us save us!!!
Did you stomp yer feet when you wrote that? I bet you did!
Hey! Have you looked up those Cigarette death numbers yet?
Not sure if trolling, stupid, or just an asshole, either way this thread is approaching Godwin’s law territory far quicker than I would have liked.
So what are the major causes of violence? Poverty Drugs Poor Education Inequality Any I’ve missed? Feel free to add them to the list. That list is not something we can tackle easily. Poverty may never be erased; drug use is so rampant (and poorly handled legally), that it’s going to take years, possibly decades, to make headway on it; we are fixing poor education and inequality, gradually, so I give us some points there, but we’re still a long way off where we need to be though. You know what we can do though? Work on the culture of… Read more »
None of you are getting it. Deer hunters arent going to “blast your head off.” (This hyperbole and emotional reasoning cracks me up.) Guys like me- I own 6 different firearms (OMG MORE THAN PEOPLE IN MY HOUSE!!!), are not going to rob you, shoot you, bother you etc… Basically your argument is- Its too hard to deal with the real root causes so WE want to limit YOUR constitutional rights so THEY can be saved from THEMSELVES. Anytime you approach me with that kind of a logical flow I’m going to igore you. You’re treating the poor and uneducated… Read more »
They don’t “get” anything regarding self-preservation or defense of one’s family, or realities of human nature. Nor do they even care about the guns. Look at Prof Gee Wiz’s true motivation…Gay Acceptance. Its a fight you could have stopped years ago dude. Let it go. Again. If he cared about body-count, he’d go after the tobacco lobby that spends over 200 times the cash in DC than the NRA. Its just that cigarettes don’t kill people….hunters do….or sumthing like that. No…CARS…..cars and smoking. Smoking while driving with yer gun and hunting license. Holy cow! Now THAT’s a reason to nullify… Read more »
Dah…ummmm….ahhhh….like during the depressionnnnn and everything…..like there were like no gun laws….and the country was like wicked poor n-stuff……kids could like bring their .22 rifle or shotgun to like school…….and there were no school shootings…..and I just think like if the liberals had not like totally shredded the family and discounted the value of like life n-stuff… And like OMG…you said that thing about inequality…..I heard like back before 1960, there was all this unfair treatment of dark-skinned people n-stuffffffff……so I’m all like “no way!” What kind-o dweebee keeps haring on old 60s stuff? Did you happen to notice the… Read more »
OMG! I’ve got more for the list. I hope we can like make a poster for outside Prof Blumgartner’s classroom. – Stupidity – Inner-city drug wars – stupid inner-city drug wars. – stupid drug dealers and their like stupid reactions to competition. – police that will not enforce the laws that are like already there. Cuz like dude…I bet you don’t even know what it takes to get, buy, hold, store or lick a gun according to say….Massachusetts laws. – turkey-hunting -turkeys with guns…yeah…..they cause a lot of stuff – OMG! WHITE CONSERVATIVE HOMOPHOBIC MEN!!!!!! I be they account for… Read more »
take a break man…. seriously. breathe a little.
– John Deer hats
– Overalls with car grease
– Rebel flags….yeah….rebel flags cause gun deaths.
– and hey Prof Blumers….you ain’t never seen me hunt Bambie…LOL He’s comin’ straight fer us!!!!
Michael- one last note- if, when you hunt, try to blow up a “deer’s head like a pinata” you and I probably don’t have much in common.
If youre actually interested- the head leaves a lot of room for error and has a very high chance of a non lethal wound. Aiming for slightly above the heart gives you the best chance of dropping the deer with minimal chance of the animal running away wounded.
Why don’t you spend more time confronting the actual causes of violence rather than ranting against law abiding gunowners and hunters?
You, Mr Blumenfeld, are a big part of the reason that there is no civil, rational debate about violence in the US. You would rather write catty articles pointing the finger of blame at people who aren’t the problem because of your cultural prejudices.
Another agenda painting another Escher.
But I honestly do not and will never believe a professor can read the Second Ammendment and comprehend “hunting rights.”
The SAT exams ensured we could read x and interpret x. Good God Prof! Just speak honestly! You don’t have to lube us so bloody hard. Just say what you really think without the limp-wristed hunter’s tale.
Rob, I find your response to be very anti-intellectual, and quite frankly, heterosexist and misogynistic (“limp-wristed hunter’s tale”). Your apparent disdain for professors only matches former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s disdain for Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren. I am speaking as honestly as I can. I cannot express what I wrote in my article any other way. I don’t know what you want. We clearly have a disagreement. I do not believe that the framers of the Second Amendment had intended arming citizens with assault weapons, automatic and semi automatic. We have an armed militia: it’s called the National Guard. We don’t… Read more »
The framers of the second amendment existed in a time when the populace owned similar or superior weapons to the government provided infantry.
Gee professor Blume..If its deaths you wanna stop, how bout if we paint some signs to end the deaths caused by cigarrettes! They kill over 400,000 per yer.
Or how about we end cars!!!!! Yeah!!!!! I”l make a sign that has a pot leaf and a dead car. That’ll be keen!!!!
NEED assault weapons? NEED? So yer expecting me, the total homophobe, to rely upon police that take 40minutes to arrive at my house?
And yeah…yer righ Prof…You figured me out. I hate all academics. God save the turkeys for next week please!
This is a transparent attempt at stereotyping and demonization by focusing on a few atypical cases, hyping and distorting them, and portraying them as the norm. There is little difference between this and the sort of islamophobic slander piece painting Islam as [insert usual hate terminology here] by referring to 9/11 and other terror attacks. If you find yourself using the same tactics as rabid bigots, you should perhaps stop and consider what you’re doing for at least a moment. Also, glaringly obvious technical errors do not help your credibility. Do you even know the difference between a rifle and… Read more »
The gun violence you decry isnt coming from jewelry stores in Cedar Rapids giving away Remington 870a (which are simple pump action shotguns, NOT rifles) or Cabelas deer rifle giveaways. Canada has similar numbers per capita of similar weapons WITHOUT similar gun violence. You spend 90% of your article talking about hunters and classic red state people when they arent even the ones causing gun violence in a large scale. If you want to actually make a dent in gun violence look for root causes and address them. Sneering at folks in Cedar Rapids who own pump shotguns speaks of… Read more »
Dear Taxpat: Name calling never adds to the discussion. It only diminishes you and your argument. The point of my article is the social climate of gun ownership and the lack of gun control measures within the United States. What kind of a social climate do we inhabit when a jewelry store provides a gun along with an engagement ring? What kind of social climate do we inhabit when a truck store provides an assault rifle with the purchase of a truck, etc.? It speaks volumes about the “values” of our country. That is the point I was making in… Read more »
The “social climate” that Remington 870 ownersin Iowa live in differs greatly from the “social climate” that breeds the majority of the gun violence in this country. Hunters and NRA members aren’t the people committing gun violence in great numbers but they are the target of your article. Their “values” arent leading them to commit violent acts with guns in great numbers.
Why mention them?
What ‘social climate’ are you referring to, TP? What I believe the author is referring to is the culture of our nation as a whole.
How much cultural commonality do you think exists between the various communities in this country? Here are facts that John and Professor Blumenfeld are ignoring- Gun violence is a plague in certain communities not in others. This article demonizes communities that tend to be very nonviolent and law abiding. This is like some anti-drug advocate decrying the violence of bath salt users by demonizing the pot smoking crowd at a Phish show. Let me guess- they have the same culture? Pretty stupid comparison isnt it? However, people who are ignorant and who maintain an irrational fear or hatred of recreational… Read more »
I’m still trying to figure out what “name” the big bad Jeweler called you…LOL
The innuendo protocol Iowa State must be really thin!
Actually, gun ownership per capita in Canada is less than half that of the US, despite the much larger amount of the population living in areas where carrying a gun is vital for safety from wildlife. 88.8 per 100 vs 30.8 per 100. England and Wales, somewhere with very strict gun laws, 6.2. The US has 4.14 firearm murders per 100,00 per year. Canada 0.76. The England and Wales 0.07. In developed nations gun ownership levels directly correlate with the number of firearm murders. Regardless of who is committing the murders the problem highlighted by the articular is the fact… Read more »
Well said, John. I totally agree. There is no denying that the NRA’s mission and the overwhelming amount of money they’re willing to “shell out” to promote it certainly add to the “social climate” that Professor Blumenfeld speaks about.
~Cameron
There is no denying the The Abortion Lobby mission and the overwhelming amount of money they’re willing to “shell out” to promote its agenda certainly add to the “social climate” that …
Grow up! the NRA is not the only lobby in DC. If you believe they are unique in method, you are as simple as I think you are.
I’m sorry, but I don’t see what and other lobbying has to so with the culpability, or otherwise, of the NRA. What exactly dos abortion have to do with gun laws? I don’t think the NRA are the only lobby group and I said nothing of the sort. As far as I can tell you seem to be incapable of making a valid point, only undermining your side of the debate with petty name calling.
Please allow me to type slowly 4 u.
I was making the point that the NRA, as a LOBBY, is doing its job. it creates influence and leverages that same influence just like the Farmer Lobby….Please tell me yer not serious.
I’m not comfortable further restricting the Constitutional rights of people who are not committing gun violence to protect those that are. This is the same sort of logic that leads to things like the Patriot Act (people should give up individual liberties so that we can all be safer). As a society we need to be very careful with ideas like this; the road to hell is paved with good intentions. All I’m seeing here is a bunch of people who I doubt are gun owners demonizing a set of gun owners who don’t tend to commit violent acts. You… Read more »
Last time I checked the bad end of the gun was normally pointed away from the person committing the violence and gun control was about protecting those people who were the subject of the violence, not the ones committing it… I was not demonising anyone, only pointing out that your facts are wrong and that we should have an educated debate rather than the fingers in ears “nanananana guns don’t kill people the NRA is not at fault in any way nananananana” that we have from one side at the moment. Oh, and for the record, I don’t currently own… Read more »
Uhhhh John… The groups committing the vast majority of gun violence are the same ones who are suffering from it.