Talking about guns

One thing I have noticed about dogs, at least my dogs, is they have no concept of the fact that cars will hit them. When we go for walks, even if they may theoretically see a car coming, they have no sense of danger, and usually they are not even seeing the cars. That’s my job. I have to watch out for that, and have to keep the dogs safe by having them leashed and keeping them out of traffic. The leash also allows me to protect squirrels, control their interactions with other dogs, and so is not just the law, it’s also a good idea.

If everything there sounds fairly rational and balanced, it’s amazing how impossible it has been at times to have that discussion with people who are into pitbulls.

Let me say that I love pitbulls. I know they can be cute and sweet and loyal. I don’t think I have ever run into any that were not on a leash. I also know that cocker spaniels bite the most, and if there is a problem with the dog it is really the owner. Also, I know that problematic owners are drawn to breeds with bad reputations, and a determined pitbull can do a fair amount of damage based on their jaw strength and tenacity.

This leads us to a state where pitbull owners often feel so beleaguered that you can’t have a rational discussion with them about reasonable restraints and guidelines, because they are so used to hearing slurs against their dogs, and defending their dog is so important to them, that their ears are closed to anything else, where even if you aren’t badmouthing the dog, you are. This is not productive, and yes, it happens because of unreasonable prejudices on the other side, but still, it is not productive.

I feel like we have gotten into a similar state on gun control. People say the same things over and over again, and nothing actually happens, except for people getting hot and bothered either because nothing will happen or because they believe something will happen. We get anger, and rampant stupidity. The only positive is that it is good business for gun sales, and a small economic upsurge inspired by an act of violence and underwritten by paranoia is a lousy gain.

Therefore, trying to say anything meaningful about guns in America seems pointless, but I remain irresistibly drawn to lost causes, so here I go.

More concealed permits are not the answer. If only someone else had a gun at the theater or the mall or the school, or if the battered woman had a gun of her own (apparently the most recent one did). You are overestimating your ability to respond appropriately in a frightening situation.

First of all, you are not fully taking into account the emotional repercussions of getting yourself ready to kill. Yes, if you can save innocent lives by taking out the deranged person, that sounds perfectly reasonable, and it is. Getting yourself mentally in the state where you can do it, though, is not easy, and it shouldn’t be. Obviously it’s easier for some, and that’s a bad thing. Also, even if it was justified and heroic, you will carry baggage from it. Again, that is as it should be, but it’s not something to take lightly, and certainly not to decide as an armchair quarterback.

Secondly, you are overestimating your ability to be accurate and effective. Soldiers and cops have issues with friendly fire all the time, and they get training and practice. Turning an active shooter situation into an open firefight is something that will lead to more injuries, more deaths, and more confusion for first responders, especially if there are multiple armed responders getting into it, where you may end up shooting other good guys. Horrible idea.

Guns don’t kill people, but they make it way easier. Even with all the possibilities for misfiring or just missing, guns are more quick and efficient and more convenient when it is impulsive. If you haven’t heard about Jordan Russell Davis shooting, look that up. No one in their right mind would think playing loud music is worthy of death (Charlie Fuqua’s mind is not right), Michael Dunn’s life was not in danger, and I don’t even believe that he believed that he was in danger, but there is a dead teenager again. There are a lot of issues with law and race and society in that and in the Trayvon Martin case, but cowardly small-minded people are exponentially more dangerous with a gun than without.

If guns are illegal, only criminals will have guns. Perhaps, but they would probably have a harder time getting them, and confiscation would certainly be easier, but there is actually a much more important point here, which is that…

The government is not coming for your guns. I guess there may be an element out there that wants guns to be completely illegal, but really, that’s not the norm. There may be some desired restrictions on certain types of weapons and ammunition (because I don’t think armor-piercing bullets are really integral to freedom), but there’s not a big conspiracy to take all of the guns, and acting like there is just makes you look ignorant. That alone does not make you look as ignorant as proclaiming that the Aurora shooting was a plot by the president so he could justify ramming through anti-gun legislation, but still, listen to what people are saying. Hear them. Assuming everyone is irrationally and wrongly against you is the kind of attitude that makes gun violence more likely.

And I’ll say one other thing on that—I don’t think you are going to see much federal push against guns with a Democrat in office. It’s the old “Only Nixon could go to China” thing. Liberals are supposed to be soft-on-crime pinko wimps, so they don’t touch guns because it would be playing too much to the stereotype.

Honestly, that concerns me more about drug policy than guns, because our drug policy is currently very expensive, wasteful, and deeply flawed, without doing anything to lessen drug use. With guns, honestly, enforcing existing laws might be helpful, there might be some new laws that would be practical, but really, I think it is more important to make it a less hopeless, angry society, with less emphasis on celebrity, and where there is more economic mobility (hope) and better health care including mental. Obviously it is easier to pass new gun laws, but the other route is more useful.

So I remain a crazy dreamer who will not convince anyone not already agreeing with me. I am so used to that. But I will take this opportunity to diverge from the regularly scheduled subject matter to pursue a tangent.

For more Nixon/China reasoning, I believe for a Mormon candidate to be viable it will be necessary to be a Democrat. Voters in general will be concerned about the social conservative issues, and so someone who does not feel the need to legislate the moral behavior of the rest of the country should actually be able to appeal to more voters. And, we LDS Democrats are pretty awesome in my experience.

I love Harry Reid, but I think he’s a little too honey badger to be president, kind of like I don’t expect Joe Biden to run. They’re great, but they fill a different role. That being said, I would love to listen in on the two of them quaffing root beers and trash talking various GOP members. I think that would be a blast.