Mass Shootings and The 2nd Amendment

Freedom, Tolerance and “Self-Governing” Responsibilities

As you know, TRS is located in what I refer to as the People’s Republic of Kalifornia. This is my tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that whatever socialist agenda you might fear is being perpetuated upon the nation as a whole, California is typically the first to embolden any right-infringing experiment due to the overwhelming number of Progressives (that’s the new label for Liberals in today’s world) that hang on our state from the two ends.

Let me move on to the movement of the moment, which is Gun Control legislation.

Mass Shootings…

It seems odd to me that while guns have been available and legal for generations here in the USA, school and work shootings appear to be a fairly recent phenomenon. While there may certainly be earlier circumstances, Columbine CO seems to be the first one that absolutely shocked the nation and grabbed the attention of every parent that has ever sent a kid off to school. Much like JFK in ’63, our innocence was lost.

We no longer felt safe in a place where we should feel safe. More on that to come.

I have to wonder if the increase in frequency of such appalling crimes has some measure of copycat motivation, knowing full well that the media will cover the event and the perpetrators name becomes known in seconds across the planet.

No doubt, there are more questions than answers when it comes to the increasing frequency of mass shootings.

Like all Americans… like all humans… I ponder the “why” regarding these events.

Personally, I question the morality of our culture. What was considered decent and acceptable 40 or 50 years ago is no longer held as the standard. Change happens, like it or not. If you consider the nature of content you can access via television, radio, print, billboards and of course, the internet, most all of it is relatively uncensored.

Our brains overload through an absolute orgy of access to ANY topic/image. Violence, sex, extremist opinions from any theology or philosophy… we can access and become influenced by them all in an instant. Enter the “google world”.

Murders on television and movies are not hinted at, they are graphically displayed and the next film maker has to up-the-ante in order to satisfy our desire for the extreme. To illustrate my point, go to a gamers store and spend 3 to 5 minutes watching someone play the Grand Theft Auto video game.

We are long way from Mayberry and we certainly aren’t in Kansas any longer either.

Our culture erodes the value and purpose of life.

Is this, at least in part, a contributing factor to the increase in frequency of mass shootings? You decide.

The point is, freedoms come with responsibility. This orgy of extreme content comes with a personal responsibility to “self-govern” what you access and consume. It requires a personal mission statement to have been thought through, pondered, weighed and executed prior to exposure… lest you become little more than the drifting feather at the start of Forrest Gump, simply awaiting a breeze to act upon it.

The founding fathers arranged for a separation of church and state, and while drafting our precious Constitution the overwhelming theology of the time was the Judeo Christian theology. Adherence was not mandated due to that whole Freedom of Religion foundational principle. Regardless, this philosophy provided an unlegislated understanding of acceptable moral behavior.

It provided a commonality of mutually understood civil behavior.

Currently, it would seem the overall % of subscribers to this unlegislated common code has diminished.

Some may say, we evolve… we get smarter… our technology advances… that we progress. Well, in the name of progress… with access granted through freedoms… we pay an extreme price for tolerance.

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly give a US Citizen the right to burn the flag at a public park. A freedom and right achieved by the sacrifice of others who have gone before you and fought, so many paying the ultimate price of death, for that freedom you express desecrating what they hold most dear and precious. Ironic.

Freedom of Religion convinces us to tolerate any religion or philosophy even if it teaches extremist views and perpetuates intolerance of any other religion/philosophy… to the point of directly advocating for the murder and elimination of anyone who disagrees. The freedom provided yields the motive they have to kill those providing it.

Again, ironic! Woefully so.

A conspiracy theorist may argue that these mass shootings are being orchestrated by those that wish to take our rights, our freedoms and our guns away. While I’m personally convinced there may be a spiritual reality to such a claim, on the surface I find this would be a tough measure to recruit, train and orchestrate for an individual or some radical group.

Here’s an unfortunate truth however… Americans, by and large, have gotten spoiled and comfortable with the expected “civility” of our society. While many of our grandparents came from a generation of understood norms and handshake agreements/contracts, in today’s world PR campaigns spouting “sound bite” ethics drive policy, media seeks to illustrate our divides to appeal and gain viewership and the substantive philosophy which provided that fabric of civil behavior is replaced with selfish indulgences for temporary extremist attention.

In short, dependence upon a common civility in the United States today is a naïve position and will result in you becoming a victim or your own naiveté.

It is an individual’s responsibility to provide for their own defense.

Our 2nd Amendment rights are more important than ever as we “progress” in a society that has an ever decreasing sense of morals and a sense of the value of life. While some in our society will attempt to blame guns for these tragedies… and they are serious tragedies… the truth is that our guns aren’t defective, some of our people are defective.

Mental illness may be a large culprit. I happen to be a Registered Nurse and I see first-hand the role mental illness and its associated lack of resources play in this dialogue/topic. However, our culture of apathy with decreasing moral fabric plays a significant role also.

There are no easy answers.

The debate will roll forward. Statistics will be thrown about to support all sides and positions. Remember this however, our government, “of, for and by the people” is, in fact, an experiment. Your rights afforded by the 2nd amendment are as strong as your support thereof.  Nobody, from either side of the argument, wants to see even a single innocent person harmed or killed by the acts of a lunatic.

If America continues its experimental pattern, any solution chosen will involve compromise. Now there’s a dirty word that no one likes to spout any longer. 2nd amendment supporters, current and past, have not trusted Big Brother and little convinces me that this mindset is changing. Yet, like Hamilton and Burr with their infamous duel, compromise is the art of forming America and American values.

Each side will likely label the result, “stupid and/or foolish”. But you and I, we’re the ones who have to drop our kids off at school and want to see a movie in a theatre without the risk of being a victim of the next mass shooting. The unfortunate truth is that no amount of legislation can remove all risk from life.

When I hear “progressives” speak of the evils of guns, my immediate thoughts transfer to that of my lovely wife and three teenage kids. I’ll do anything to protect them from harm. If they… the progressives… want to depend upon the imaginary blanket of civility for protection, God bless them for their perception of their world. While they’re enjoying their cocktail of fantasy mixed with reality… I’ll be preparing for the reality of mine whereby I maintain the right to respond to, and remove the threat of harm/danger.

Support the 2nd.
Bob Pierce