A reply I wrote to an article about gun laws in america written by Roger Ebert yesterday in the wake of the shooting in colorado-
Mr. Ebert, I read your blogs and reviews and articles regularly, and agree with you often, and even when I do not, I can see your points and understand your points of view.
This is one of those issues in which I agree with you 100%.
I grew up in a family which hunted regularly, and while I do love the taste of venison, hunting was never much my thing.
I joined the military at 21 and promptly went off to Iraq for two tours. First as a medic, then as a military broadcast "journalist". I was fortunate enough to never have to engage in a firefight, however as a medic, the aftermath of such violence was regularly in my sight, and taught me first hand the nature of what gun use produces. Death and destruction and nothing else.
Another thing I noticed was that despite my revulsion at violence, and my generally peaceful nature, the longer I had a rifle slung on my shoulder, or a sidearm on my belt- the more the desire grew to use it. And speaking to many of my fellow soldiers, they all reported the same thing. Having the gun, never being without the gun, made us want to use the gun.
I personally refuse to own a firearm. It would serve no purpose in my life. I do not hunt, and I do not spend my life fearful that someone is going to shoot at me and if I had a gun I'd be able to protect myself. Statistically, having a gun makes you more likely to die of gun violence than not having a gun. Even having been trained to use a gun properly, I do not feel I would be any safer with one than I am currently without one. If someone wishes me dead badly enough, odds are that they would have the means and I would not be prepared. I instead try to focus on avoiding such situations, and it has served me well thus far.
I grew up in and around Chicago, and am now living in Phoenix AZ, where carry laws and gun ownership are pretty much the standard, which makes me feel like I stick out. But my stance has not changed, and in fact I feel unsafe when guests come to my house with a gun, and I tell them to leave it in their vehicle, or better yet, leave it at home if they know they are coming over.
Today of course brought up the debate, as it always does. Many people I know argue about guns only being tools and it's the people that make them dangerous, etc etc... But the arguement fails with me. Tools are useful, they serve purposes. Even a knife is used for more than just perpetrating violence. But a gun serves no purpose other than to cause injury. A gun is used to injure or kill. And even non-violent people who shoot targets are still simulating violence against human or animal shaped targets. The violence is still there, without the bloodshed. I know people who say they fire guns to relieve stress, which seems like training yourself into a bad spot where any time you get worked up, you just want to pull the trigger, which is how many instances of gun violence start in the first place as a final violent release of stress/anger/pain/anxiety. Instead, perhaps picking up a paintbrush, going to the gym, meditating- could all be more constructive and useful stress releases.
People who say they want guns because other people might have guns just sounds like a cultural addiction. We need guns because there are guns. But if there weren't guns, we wouldn't need them (however I have a feeling we would still want them). And again, the statistics show that having guns makes you more likely to die of gun violence, not less likely. I know people who want to own or do own semi-auto weapons (and would want full-auto were they legal) and the only reason they could produce for this desire for firepower is because they're cool, or for protection in their homes. The coolness factor is one I refuse to even attempt to debate because if you think guns are cool then there is no way to have a rational discussion with you, but the protection issue, even ignoring the statistics of being more likely to die with gun ownership... what is it you expect to need to defend yourself from that you would require an assault rifle?
Our culture of fear and ignorance, as well as our embrace of all things loud and powerful and in many cases destructive and stupid in this country has created a disasterous mix that will only continue to harm innocent people until everyone can agree to sit down and have a rational conversation about firearms that doesn't involve terms like "guns don't kill people" and "from my cold dead hand" and "if guns are criminalized then only criminals will have guns", until this conversation can exist, we will never see an end to these nightmares playing out in front of us.
Mr. Ebert, I read your blogs and reviews and articles regularly, and agree with you often, and even when I do not, I can see your points and understand your points of view.
This is one of those issues in which I agree with you 100%.
I grew up in a family which hunted regularly, and while I do love the taste of venison, hunting was never much my thing.
I joined the military at 21 and promptly went off to Iraq for two tours. First as a medic, then as a military broadcast "journalist". I was fortunate enough to never have to engage in a firefight, however as a medic, the aftermath of such violence was regularly in my sight, and taught me first hand the nature of what gun use produces. Death and destruction and nothing else.
Another thing I noticed was that despite my revulsion at violence, and my generally peaceful nature, the longer I had a rifle slung on my shoulder, or a sidearm on my belt- the more the desire grew to use it. And speaking to many of my fellow soldiers, they all reported the same thing. Having the gun, never being without the gun, made us want to use the gun.
I personally refuse to own a firearm. It would serve no purpose in my life. I do not hunt, and I do not spend my life fearful that someone is going to shoot at me and if I had a gun I'd be able to protect myself. Statistically, having a gun makes you more likely to die of gun violence than not having a gun. Even having been trained to use a gun properly, I do not feel I would be any safer with one than I am currently without one. If someone wishes me dead badly enough, odds are that they would have the means and I would not be prepared. I instead try to focus on avoiding such situations, and it has served me well thus far.
I grew up in and around Chicago, and am now living in Phoenix AZ, where carry laws and gun ownership are pretty much the standard, which makes me feel like I stick out. But my stance has not changed, and in fact I feel unsafe when guests come to my house with a gun, and I tell them to leave it in their vehicle, or better yet, leave it at home if they know they are coming over.
Today of course brought up the debate, as it always does. Many people I know argue about guns only being tools and it's the people that make them dangerous, etc etc... But the arguement fails with me. Tools are useful, they serve purposes. Even a knife is used for more than just perpetrating violence. But a gun serves no purpose other than to cause injury. A gun is used to injure or kill. And even non-violent people who shoot targets are still simulating violence against human or animal shaped targets. The violence is still there, without the bloodshed. I know people who say they fire guns to relieve stress, which seems like training yourself into a bad spot where any time you get worked up, you just want to pull the trigger, which is how many instances of gun violence start in the first place as a final violent release of stress/anger/pain/anxiety. Instead, perhaps picking up a paintbrush, going to the gym, meditating- could all be more constructive and useful stress releases.
People who say they want guns because other people might have guns just sounds like a cultural addiction. We need guns because there are guns. But if there weren't guns, we wouldn't need them (however I have a feeling we would still want them). And again, the statistics show that having guns makes you more likely to die of gun violence, not less likely. I know people who want to own or do own semi-auto weapons (and would want full-auto were they legal) and the only reason they could produce for this desire for firepower is because they're cool, or for protection in their homes. The coolness factor is one I refuse to even attempt to debate because if you think guns are cool then there is no way to have a rational discussion with you, but the protection issue, even ignoring the statistics of being more likely to die with gun ownership... what is it you expect to need to defend yourself from that you would require an assault rifle?
Our culture of fear and ignorance, as well as our embrace of all things loud and powerful and in many cases destructive and stupid in this country has created a disasterous mix that will only continue to harm innocent people until everyone can agree to sit down and have a rational conversation about firearms that doesn't involve terms like "guns don't kill people" and "from my cold dead hand" and "if guns are criminalized then only criminals will have guns", until this conversation can exist, we will never see an end to these nightmares playing out in front of us.