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Do I have your attention yet?
My heart goes out to the families of the Oakland police officers gunned down over the weekend. It also goes out to the family and friends of Arkansas Democratic Party chair Bill Gwatney, who was shot to death last year. And the folks who were killed in that Alabama rampage earlier this month. And those poor kids at Columbine High School, killed by two of their classmates despite gun control laws in America being at their strongest in our nation's history.
Maybe we shouldn't be trying to remove firearms from the civilian market, not even "black rifles." But regardless of how you interpret our nation's assault and murder rates, we need to do something. Even I understand we have too many deaths because of criminals and lunatics with guns.
My first thought - start with the young.
What sort of entertainment is your children exposed to? Most people love a good Western or cop flick once in a while, but there are too many kids in America who regularly watch violent programming on TV - with no parental supervision to be found. There's a reason many of those films are rated 'R' to begin with. Robocop has a certain sad poignancy to it, but I would not let my children watch it until they were in their mid-teens, and then I'd insist on being there when they did. Let's face it: watching a police officer being tortured by multiple shotgun blasts while wearing a Kevlar vest is pretty harrowing even for many of us adults. Cut down on the blood and guts for family night.
Same thing goes for music, video games, etc. As far as rap goes, I like the old-school stuff like Public Enemy. I can't get into all this "gangsta" rap that glorifies bling, guns, and objectification of women. Don't let you kid near that stuff.
In high school, I'd like to see teachers work with police officers in offering students a guns-only version of Driver's Ed, the idea being that you demystify guns for our youth so they don't see firearms as a symbol of manhood or invincibility. Let the kids take a few shots under strict supervision at the firing range. Any kid who exhibits problems with impulse control or anger management can easily be isolated and dealt with at this point so that these behavior problems don't get the better of him or her when adulthood arrives. And if you find a kid who's a pretty good shot, give that student positive encouragement and reinforcement - maybe even some career options. Don't just turn them over to a military recruiter looking to make quota.
Second thought - improve our overall quality of life.
This applies to all ages. How many of us are really nourishing our minds and bodies properly? An undernourished brain is one that may not be optimized for prudent decision-making. I'm guilty of reaching for too many cheeseburgers, myself. Getting back to our schools, they should be feeding our students with nutritious meals that are rich in minerals and vitamins, not sugars and fat. Organic foods would be a plus. No high-fructose corn syrup, no rBST, no "frankenfoods," and a minimum of antibiotics and pesticides, please.
We have serious problems with unemployment in America. The Obama administration is doing what it can, but a lot of us need jobs so we can pay the electricity bill, keep the repo men from taking the car, and develop a little bit of dignity and confidence in ourselves. Poverty breeds desperation, and desperation often breeds crime. America's first gangs were made up of poor street kids who were shunned by the rest of society - and even today, gangs like MS-13 operate on the same basis of mutual protection against the outside world.
Then we come to the person who wants to purchase a gun - for hunting, sport, self-defense, historical reasons, whatever. In a society where the dignity of the individual is truly honored and nurtured, the ideal first-time gun owner will be slow to anger, sober in thought, and diligent in his or her actions, with a mind that hasn't been bombarded with violent and exploitive imagery since childhood, but instead well-versed in the responsibilities of civics and the public good. NICS background check? Sure. Reasonable regulations for concealed-carry license holders? Of course. Safe, secure storage of firearms? Encourage it at every turn. But no gun bans, no waiting periods, and no restrictions on how many guns you can purchase per month or year.
Maybe I'm just spouting a bunch of pie-in-the-sky nonsense, but can you fault me for believing that our society is capable of doing better in terms of making our streets more liveable while still respecting our Constitution? Bush and Cheney gave up on that ideal a long time ago. I never did.
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