Gun Ownership: Every Man’s Right, or White Man’s Privilege?

Embed from Getty Images

—

We’ve had gun control in The United States as long as we’ve been a nation. Trade and technology in the mid-1700s were heavily limiting factors for any firearm, military or civilian. The British crown controlled and restricted the importation of guns to the Colonies. It was Dutch traitors (the Dutch had treaties with the British Crown) and traders and Dutch industry that provided the muskets for our side to fight against the British. All firearms of any kind that a single man could carry were single shot and loaded through the muzzle. There were no cartridges, and it took many seconds to reload. Even if you were proficient at it, you got off two shots in one minute.

The barrels were not rifled so musket balls didn’t necessarily shoot straight. There were misfires and wet or contaminated or oxidized powder. The powder itself had no standards. No use-by dates. Sometimes it wasn’t strong enough and sometimes your gun blew up in your face. The effective range and reliability of firearms of the period were limiting factors in their lethality.

The Second Amendment was ratified as part of the deal made with the State of Virginia to ratify the Constitution. It was included in the Bill of Rights to preserve the slave patrol militias of the slave states. Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were all clear about it. The idea that there is an individual right to own a gun, did not come until later court decisions.

Gun control and regulations restricting the carrying of firearms have a long history here. The idea that cowboys or frontier men while in town could carry their sidearm or rifle with them is a myth that Hollywood did a lot to instill among our population. The tome of the good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy was the theme of almost every western movie; the epitome in modern films being Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. Gun manufacturers have always been elated with the romantic image portrayed. They paid for product placement in films and sophisticated ad campaigns in all media types. To this day, reaping profits from the meme.

The reality was quite different. The most common gun laws in the 1800’s made carrying a concealed firearm a crime. Early adopters were Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Indiana in 1820 banned concealed carry. Tennessee and Virginia following suit in 1838. Alabama the next year and Ohio in 1859.

◊♦◊

The founders were quite brilliant but this world we are living in now—and the level of instantaneous international trade, industrial, and even home technology we have reached—would be like hearing a fantasy world to them. Cell phones with real-time moving pictures and 3D printers. So far beyond the wildest imaginations of fiction authors of the time, that they, as smart as they were, could not conceive of what we have available to us now.

Gun rights have been and are really for white people; the history of the Second Amendment is proof.

In California, almost 150 years after states began to regulate firearms, conservative whites in 1967 wrote the Mulford Act. The Black Panthers were following L.A. Police to watch over their activities while openly carrying guns. Conservative Governor Ronald Reagan commented “… no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying a loaded weapon” California Republicans wanted gun control and their conservative governor signed it into law.

Successive court decision have moved the interpretation of The Second Amendment from collectivist towards individual rights. With the most recent SCOTUS decision overturning many home rule gun bans across the U.S.A. Including most notably the long-standing ban in Chicago.

When I talk to gun rights advocates, most of them simply regurgitate talking points that were spoon fed to them. They don’t know the history or many facts, or they don’t really care about them. I think when it comes down to it, it’s truly an emotional issue. Many gun owners act like children who are afraid that the adults will take away their toys.

Guns are marketed similarly to toys and are almost as available as toys. For most people, guns are as necessary as toys are; very expensive toys, at that. So expensive, that owning them demands some kind of rationalization, something noble: protecting homes and children, while at the same time protecting freedom and liberty. Hard to argue against that, except when you look at the gun death rate. You go through a lot more getting a driver’s license, buying a car and registering it, paying for insurance and maintaining it.

Guns are toys that seem to be exempt from product safety laws. Do you remember lawn darts? After only a very few accidents, they were banned. See how fast dangerous items get banned or recalled and made safer? Cribs and playpens were dangerous and killed infants and toddlers. But guns, holy and sacrosanct guns. Guns that kids get a hold of and shoot accidentally. Has there ever been anyone who says they are an irresponsible gun owner after an accidental shooting?

Nothing has been done to make them any safer even though the technology exists. The NRA and its freedom loving gun lobbyists say, “We can’t insist that new guns have smart gun technology and bullet marking. That would be using the heavy hand of big government”. Ignoring the fact that it’s big government that has given them a special status. They ignore the fact that seat belts were mandated by law in the mid-1960s and have saved countless lives, my own included. Ignoring the fact that there was a time when automobiles were not regulated or registered. Cars weren’t banned afterwords and neither will guns be.

◊♦◊

I’ve heard arguments and seen internet memes about how rocks can be used as murder weapons so they are equivalent to guns. The argument goes something like this: What do you want to do, ban rocks? It’s not necessarily rocks; it’s whatever material implement they can think of at the moment. I’ve heard absurd arguments such as “Spoons are making us fat; do you want to ban spoons?” My response: “When you can throw a rock or a spoon at 2350 fps and do it 30 times in less than 20 seconds and hit something 500 meters away, it might be time to talk about rocks and spoons and how dangerous they are.” Until then, there is no comparison.

On the other hand, the same people post memes about the Palestinians using rocks against Israeli armored personnel carriers and how unequal the rocks are to guns. Likewise, the indigenous inhabitants here already had knives and axes, bows and arrows, spears and slings too. All of them are better weapons than rocks and we can clearly see how equivalent that fight went.

Some have the delusional belief that a rogue government is waiting and licking its chops for the day we institute any comprehensive gun regulations. It’s almost as laughable as thinking that unorganized owners of firearms will be able to put down an evil government’s take-over bid. Did you see the crack team of self-made Federal-dollar-dependent patriots who took over a bird sanctuary? It’s those people who are defending everyone’s liberties? It’s a fantasy for the NRA, end-of-times evangelicals, preppers, and Hollywood. Not for me.

I do not think one can creditably argue that in countries with similar states of development to ours, gun control does not or cannot work. Gun death rates, singular and especially mass shootings are rare in nations comparable to the U.S.A. The numbers are not at issue. Mass shootings have gone to 0 since 1996 in Australia when they banned semi-auto rifles and restricted most gun ownership. If that’s not working, I don’t see how a rational mind can look at the facts and come to a different conclusion.

—

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Harrison M. Fried Born 1960 in Mexico City , Mexico. Holds both U.S.A. and Mexican nationalities and is bilingual. Grew up in Chicago. Francis W. Parker class of 1979 Holds a BA from Columbia College Chicago 1984. I travel often and write on many subjects. I’m published on the following websites antitheistmovement.com and storographer.com
—

—
Photo credit: Getty Images/Joe Raedle