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Time to Show Some Backbone on Gun Control
Jul 21, 2012
Another summer, another mass shooting of innocent civilians.
Another round of media feeding frenzy on the tragedy, another collective outpouring of sympathy and outrage from the public, another set of poses and postures from politicians for and against increased regulation of weapons in this country.
It's gotten to be so predictable, it's hard to get that engaged, although of course one has to pause and reflect on the horror of being mowed down in one's seat in a suburban movie theater.
The truth is, it's amazing that this sort of thing doesn't happen more often in America.
After all, we are the largest gun manufacturer in the world. We're also the largest producer of violent entertainment in the world, from BATMAN to video games to pornography.
Barring countries actively engaged in civil war--Syria, anyone? Israel/Palestine? Congo?--we sport the most heavily armed civilian population in the world.
As the pundits have been saying repeatedly all day, states like Colorado have no regulation at all over who can buy assault weapons. Any Joe can walk in to a gunshop and walk out with an AK-47, no questions asked.
With policies like that, is it any wonder lethal weapons end up in the hands of loonies and psychopaths?
Everyone knows what needs to be done: we need to make it much harder to obtain weapons, especially assault weapons.
After all, we don't let kids get into cars and drive them without training and licensing, because we know cars can be easily turned into lethal weapons.
But actual guns, whose sole purpose is killing, we sell over the counter without screening or comment.
Back in the 1980s, it took a coalition of furious mothers to start the movement that eventually led to much stricter punishments for driving drunk, as well as greatly improved education for teens on the dangers of drunk driving.
Remember MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving?
Those grieving mothers had lost their children to our nation's lax drunk driving enforcement, coupled with a permissive, boys-will-be-boys culture, and they weren't going to take their personal tragedies lying down.
Neither should we.
I want to see rallies in every state capital, demanding gun control legislation effective immediately!
I want to see Gabrielle Giffords at the head of a march on Washington, insisting that our nation's leaders do more than put the flags at half-mast and shed some crocodile tears over the loss of innocent lives today.
I want our society to show some backbone!
Not just on this issue, but on all the difficult issues that face us nationally and internationally today.
Enough sitting back and waiting for the next tragedy to strike. Time to put down the remote, get off the couch, and get down to the business of making ourselves a better world.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Jennifer Browdy De Hernandez
Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez teaches comparative literature and gender studies with an activist bent at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA and blogs at Transition Times.
Another summer, another mass shooting of innocent civilians.
Another round of media feeding frenzy on the tragedy, another collective outpouring of sympathy and outrage from the public, another set of poses and postures from politicians for and against increased regulation of weapons in this country.
It's gotten to be so predictable, it's hard to get that engaged, although of course one has to pause and reflect on the horror of being mowed down in one's seat in a suburban movie theater.
The truth is, it's amazing that this sort of thing doesn't happen more often in America.
After all, we are the largest gun manufacturer in the world. We're also the largest producer of violent entertainment in the world, from BATMAN to video games to pornography.
Barring countries actively engaged in civil war--Syria, anyone? Israel/Palestine? Congo?--we sport the most heavily armed civilian population in the world.
As the pundits have been saying repeatedly all day, states like Colorado have no regulation at all over who can buy assault weapons. Any Joe can walk in to a gunshop and walk out with an AK-47, no questions asked.
With policies like that, is it any wonder lethal weapons end up in the hands of loonies and psychopaths?
Everyone knows what needs to be done: we need to make it much harder to obtain weapons, especially assault weapons.
After all, we don't let kids get into cars and drive them without training and licensing, because we know cars can be easily turned into lethal weapons.
But actual guns, whose sole purpose is killing, we sell over the counter without screening or comment.
Back in the 1980s, it took a coalition of furious mothers to start the movement that eventually led to much stricter punishments for driving drunk, as well as greatly improved education for teens on the dangers of drunk driving.
Remember MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving?
Those grieving mothers had lost their children to our nation's lax drunk driving enforcement, coupled with a permissive, boys-will-be-boys culture, and they weren't going to take their personal tragedies lying down.
Neither should we.
I want to see rallies in every state capital, demanding gun control legislation effective immediately!
I want to see Gabrielle Giffords at the head of a march on Washington, insisting that our nation's leaders do more than put the flags at half-mast and shed some crocodile tears over the loss of innocent lives today.
I want our society to show some backbone!
Not just on this issue, but on all the difficult issues that face us nationally and internationally today.
Enough sitting back and waiting for the next tragedy to strike. Time to put down the remote, get off the couch, and get down to the business of making ourselves a better world.
Jennifer Browdy De Hernandez
Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez teaches comparative literature and gender studies with an activist bent at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA and blogs at Transition Times.
Another summer, another mass shooting of innocent civilians.
Another round of media feeding frenzy on the tragedy, another collective outpouring of sympathy and outrage from the public, another set of poses and postures from politicians for and against increased regulation of weapons in this country.
It's gotten to be so predictable, it's hard to get that engaged, although of course one has to pause and reflect on the horror of being mowed down in one's seat in a suburban movie theater.
The truth is, it's amazing that this sort of thing doesn't happen more often in America.
After all, we are the largest gun manufacturer in the world. We're also the largest producer of violent entertainment in the world, from BATMAN to video games to pornography.
Barring countries actively engaged in civil war--Syria, anyone? Israel/Palestine? Congo?--we sport the most heavily armed civilian population in the world.
As the pundits have been saying repeatedly all day, states like Colorado have no regulation at all over who can buy assault weapons. Any Joe can walk in to a gunshop and walk out with an AK-47, no questions asked.
With policies like that, is it any wonder lethal weapons end up in the hands of loonies and psychopaths?
Everyone knows what needs to be done: we need to make it much harder to obtain weapons, especially assault weapons.
After all, we don't let kids get into cars and drive them without training and licensing, because we know cars can be easily turned into lethal weapons.
But actual guns, whose sole purpose is killing, we sell over the counter without screening or comment.
Back in the 1980s, it took a coalition of furious mothers to start the movement that eventually led to much stricter punishments for driving drunk, as well as greatly improved education for teens on the dangers of drunk driving.
Remember MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving?
Those grieving mothers had lost their children to our nation's lax drunk driving enforcement, coupled with a permissive, boys-will-be-boys culture, and they weren't going to take their personal tragedies lying down.
Neither should we.
I want to see rallies in every state capital, demanding gun control legislation effective immediately!
I want to see Gabrielle Giffords at the head of a march on Washington, insisting that our nation's leaders do more than put the flags at half-mast and shed some crocodile tears over the loss of innocent lives today.
I want our society to show some backbone!
Not just on this issue, but on all the difficult issues that face us nationally and internationally today.
Enough sitting back and waiting for the next tragedy to strike. Time to put down the remote, get off the couch, and get down to the business of making ourselves a better world.
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