By Karen Cord Taylor
Everyone is saying race relations are at a new low. We have to have a conversation, a dialogue, a national catharsis of speech.
I can’t figure out how any of this will help unless we get rid of the gun culture. Good and kind Americans of any color can work it out. But we cannot have a civilized society if we believe we must possess a gun to feel safe. No one, including police officers, can resolve any dispute if pointing guns at one another is how we handle conflict. If you live in the gun culture, you’re wary all the time. What a terrible way to live.
First, there is no one in civilian America who needs an assault rifle. They have one either because they intend to kill scores of people, including little children. Or, more likely, their “hands” are too small, and they need a dose of fantasy manhood to get through the day. If such people were actually a part of the National Guard, I’d say go for it. That’s our militia, and there should be no problem arming members of that group, who presumably are there to protect us.
Everyday pistols, rifles and shotguns are also popular. What kind of a world do people live in that they need guns to feel safe?
Why did Philando Castile, the school nutrition services supervisor who was shot in Minnesota by the cop, have a permit and carry a gun? He was supposedly popular with his co-workers and had a sweet temper. Reportedly his girlfriend, who was self-possessed enough to record the aftermath with her cell phone and post it to Facebook as it was happening, had a license to carry also. Why did she think she needed one? A gun didn’t end up making them safer. It might even have contributed to the cop losing his cool.
Then there are the mothers, one from Idaho and another from Milwaukee, whose toddlers picked up their loaded guns, pulled the triggers and the mothers died. What kind of a world did those mothers live in that they needed a loaded gun in their pocketbook or car? If that were Syria, maybe I could understand it. But Milwaukee?
No longer the home of the brave, America is filled with cowering folks arming themselves against who-knows-what imagined threats. It doesn’t seem to help. It is now more likely that an American will be killed by a gun than in a motor vehicle accident, according to the Economist. (The gun culture practitioners say they are wrong, but I’m going with the Economist.)
I’ve never understood the gun culture because I grew up with guns. Four long ones, unloaded, rested on a rack on our living room wall. I was not afraid of them, but I never touched them. Even my little brother, sometimes known for his bad choices, stayed away. Our father had been in the Army’s military police during World War II. He knew how to shoot, though, because he learned growing up. When our ancestors settled our farm, wolves were still around on the prairie, threatening the livestock. Although the wolves were mostly gone when I was a child, our father used his guns to kill foxes that got into the chickens. He took his gun hunting, and we enjoyed pheasant, quail and rabbit, foods that are now aspirational and pricey.
But ours was a farming culture, not a gun culture. No one was afraid of anyone else. I never saw some guy with small “hands” brandishing his gun to impress us with his manhood. We expected that life would be peaceful, and it was.
If you are reading this, you probably live in downtown Boston. Not many people here are afraid either. For one thing, we have more restrictive gun laws than some states and fewer guns. That means we have fewer gun deaths. Also, we don’t have much crime in the downtown. We walk around at night taking care, but usually trusting we’ll be safe.
Some parts of Boston are not as safe as the downtown. Perhaps I am naïve to believe that our police force is a good one, determined to treat people fairly and also get rid of the gun culture that exists in those neighborhoods. But I’m counting on their professionalism.
I didn’t know James Madison personally. But it’s hard to imagine him and his cohorts who wrote the the US Constitution tolerating the idea that some guys thought they needed assault rifles or that everyone would be packing as they went to class or drove down a highway.
Paul Ryan, certain Supreme Court justices and the National Rifle Association didn’t know James Madison either. His language, however, is pretty clear: “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.” It’s all about the militia. I realize I’m better educated, maybe even smarter, than certain justices of the Supreme Court, who apparently can’t read. I hate that.
View Comments (9)
Wow, what a provincial, arrogant article, full of distortions. I didn't realize someone so smart could be so narrow-minded and unaware of other sub-cultures in the U.S. Ma'am, just because you believe it to be so doesn't mean other people do too. This article is essentially a rant, the author hates guns and is telling us as much. No matter that millions of people own assault weapons (not "rifles," those are defined as fully automatic) and use them responsibly. As for "no one needs an assault rifle," you don't get to tell other people what they "need," and the Bill of Rights says nothing about "need." I could go on and on, but I just wanted to post to let you know how really feeble this article is. Who is it going to persuade? The only people who are nodding their heads in agreement are those who already hold the views you do. In the mean time, 200 million gun owners in America are peacefully using their guns for sport and self-defense.
>First, there is no one in civilian America who needs an assault rifle. They have one either because they intend to kill scores of people, including little children.
Holy crap, is this satire? Could you have made a more incendiary, arrogant, and untrue statement? I know lots of people who own "assault weapons" (we call them semi-auto rifles) and believe me, none are murderers. We take the guns out to the range to have fun shooting targets. Sheesh.
your first half assed conclusion goes to show how incredibly idiotic your position is i dont on any gun to murder anyone you twit
Pure ignorance expressed by the author. On all points.
Another lunatic trolling Americans.
"It’s all about the militia. I realize I’m better educated, maybe even smarter, than certain justices of the Supreme Court, who apparently can’t read. I hate that."
How in the world do you think it is?
Ask any 7th grade English grammar teacher to parse that sentence; and then, when done, go to whatever college you drank your way through and ask for your money back.
Educated my a$$.
Race relations are at a low point, and somehow it's the guns' fault? I don't follow. If all guns magically disappeared, then whites and blacks would get along?
You know, there's actually something called a law which spells out in plain english what constitutes the militia, and its not just the national guard. I'm not going to respond to the rest of your drivel.
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
self loathing communist
Literally the most 1-sided narrow minded and inaccurate thing I've ever read. You do know the National Guard is NOT our militia right?.... the militia is actually your towns men that own guns, not organized, and not affiliated with the govt. it's actual original intended purposes was to protect your towns people FROM the govt, not be a part of it.
Also, FACTS show that neighborhoods and towns and states where more people and more households have guns there is less crime. More Guns, Less Crime. Read the book, do some research and study the facts.
Facts matter, not your feelings. You're allowed to FEEL that guns are not safe, FACTS show where more people have them you actually ARE more safe.