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April 22, 2007
Ugly America
by Tina Grazier
Is America as ugly as headlines around the world suggest?
I’m really sick of the anti-American rhetoric, both at home and across the world, but the garbage that spewed forth following the terrible incident at Virginia Tech was particularly sickening. Stories in the UK papers contemptuously held that the US was unusually violent. One suggested our frontier beginnings have somehow imbrued us with a collective Ike Clanton mentality. A few examples:
Independent (UK), by Rupert Cornwell The massacre at Virginia Tech has, yet again, focused attention on the culture of guns and the ease of obtaining firearms in America, an unending source of amazement to most of the rest of the world. Roughly 29,000 people are killed by firearms every year - 10 times as many as died on September 11, 2001.
Reuters, by Ralph Gowling World leaders and media commentators criticised what many called the gun culture in the United States on Tuesday after 33 people were killed in the country's worst shooting rampage. The world, including U.S. arch-foe Iran, united in sympathy. European newspapers saw a grim inevitability about the killings because the U.S. constitution enshrined the right to bear arms /snip/ Italy's leftist Il Manifesto newspaper said the shooting was ''as American as apple pie''
One holier than thou, “journalist” had the gall to long for “the Clinton era". I guess in his mind the killings at Columbine don’t count. Ian Bell writing in “The Herald” in his article “What is it about this fetish with firearms?” had these things to say:
What is it with certain Americans and guns? The successive massacres begin to amount almost to a collective psychological profile. History, the history of the civil war and of the frontier in particular, explains some of it, but it does not begin to unravel the fetishising of firearms, the perpetual escalation, like a longing for the promised Armageddon. Guns, for some, go to the core of their identities, to what it means to be American...
Hunting is part of the frontier mythology, of course, a rite of passage for virile boys bonding with their fathers. It is a favourite, all-American image invoked by the likes of the National Rifle Association….The American context is a strange one, however…It isn't sporting to machine-gun a deer….
The idea of American exceptionalism is defined, sometimes, as an example of the new world improving on the old. In the patriotic rhetoric of the republic, it offers us "the last best hope of mankind". But that itching trigger finger reminds us of something dark at America's heart, a self-loathing to match all the justified pride. And it is a trait of which some Americans simply refuse to be rid.
The best hope after the Virginia sacrifice, and it is probably a forlorn hope, is that the Clinton-era restrictions on automatic rifles - actual combat weapons - might be restored.
Mankind's best hope, I think, is that one dysfunctional nation is not our last best hope.
It’s time for Americans to talk back and at least one bold American, Steve Stanek has done just that. His response to all this UK elitist nonsense is in his piece, “'Only in America'? Gunning Down a Claim”:
In Scotland authorities are enacting knife control policies because violent crime has continued to climb (with knives as a weapon of choice) in the wake of the nation's gun bans. Should Americans speak contemptuously of Scotland's "blade and booze" culture?
Last November in Emsdetten, Germany, a teenager shot and wounded more than a dozen persons before killing himself. In 2002 in a school in Erfurt, Germany, a gunman killed 17 people and himself.
On September 28, 2001, in peaceful Switzerland, a man shot and killed 14 people, including 11 members of a local canton council.
Violence and murder are willful acts perpetrated by sick human beings…not inanimate objects. Excuse this mere amateur for preaching to the elite but as they say, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that there’s enough “ugly” in the world to go around.
I'd like to make a special note of those we count on to defend against such violence. In America it's proud gun toting fellow Americans. I'm grateful for their training, service and care because there will always be crazy ugly people in our world. I'm also quite certain I cannot count on smarmy writers of the fictional America featured in many publications across the globe for my defense.
Posted by Post Scripts at April 22, 2007 10:22 PM
Comments
We have a unique situation in America with over 200 million guns known to be licensed to about 60 million people and likely another 20 million out there and not licensed. This is all part of our [unique] freedom that makes us different from most other nations.
The leftwing (here and in Europe) is famous for citing firearm abuses to extort gun control laws from legislators. For instance, in the wake of the Columbine shooting in 1999, 15 states passed significant gun control bills. However, none of these laws prevented the next shooting at VA Tech. One wonders what new gun control laws will be passed next?
The ever restrictive gun control laws have been forced on us mostly over the last 30 years. Those strict laws have been working like a noose on the necks of legal gun owners. Only our 2nd Amendment, has kept them from choking the life out them. To a large part this craze to pass gun laws happened because we have started to believe our own headlines that reflect a gun crazed culture of trigger happy Americans! Given the constant headlines and Hollywood’s penchant for violent movies, is it any wonder why most of the world thinks we’re a brutal and lawless society?
However, American gun ownership was far more common before all the infamous headlines (and movies) and long before all the gun laws that followed. This point’s to a deeper problem than mere gun ownership. To take away our guns now would be the band aide approach and that never solves anything! Any rise in crime, be it from guns or drugs, porn, etc., is a societal issue. These things require a good deal of introspection and thought, whereas gun laws require very little thought as evidenced by their failures to prevent crime. It’s a shame we can’t simply legislate away a deep and growing societal problem by placing restrictions on an inanimate object, but common sense says we can’t and the results prove it. We have to fall back on holding the criminal accountable for his own actions, not some object and certainly not society as a whole. For too long, we've mixed up crime control with gun control and it’s not working! These are two subjects that must be separated if there is to be any justice or lasting resolution.
By the way, if we say the 1st Amendment is important enough to take some risks to protect, shouldn’t we say the same is true for our 2nd Amendment? What freedom can you safely give up?
PS Liberals tend to measure success or failure against the backdrop of perfection.... when it suits their purpose.
Posted by: Jack at April 23, 2007 11:18 AM
It is not unusual for Europeans who have their histories of torturing people for back talking the king to pontificate on problems here in the States.
The reality is much different. Freedoms come with responsibilities, and sometimes negative consequences. Evil people will always be able to take advantage of a free society to some degree.
It is no shock to me that many in Europe are all to willing to give up liberty for perceived security.
Modern elites seem to universally disparage the personal ownership of firearms; stating that it is the duty of the government to provide protection to the individual citizen.
Most of Europe with few exceptions is used to foreign invaders coming in and dictating to them what liberties they will be permitted to keep, and which they will surrender.
Americans are not accustomed to such acquiescence. Nor are we blind to the lessons of history. So we will continue to protect our right to defend our selves and property by protecting the second amendment.
Let Europeans cast American tradition in a disparaging light. I guarantee it is there societies who have only recently embraced the sort of individual liberties that the United States has, that will be the first to give them up in the name of security.
I am reminded of a comic strip that was proudly displayed in my Grandfathers den which depicted a fight between a bunch of cavemen throwing stones at one another. The inscription read:
"The only way to stop this madness is to outlaw rocks."
If history is once again proved repetitive, I sincerely hope that Europeans will have all the rocks they need to defend themselves from tyranny.
Im sure they will have no need of our "gun toting, violence loving society".
P.S. I find it interesting that the same liberals who oppose any aspect of the Patriot act because of its percieved violation of civil liberties, would allow the "terrorist" to win by throwing out the second ammendment in order to achieve a different aspect of their domestic policy.
Posted by: Nick Freitas at April 23, 2007 01:40 PM
Great comments guys.
Modern elites seem to universally disparage the personal ownership of firearms; stating that it is the duty of the government to provide protection to the individual citizen.
European elites may be "victims" of their own past history...the feudal system gave them zero rights. The thought of having them may make them uncomfortable. If so, it's probably that responsibility aspect that Jack mentioned that bothers them.
Note to European elites....we Americans are not "vassals"!
Posted by: Tina at April 23, 2007 07:52 PM
I was surprised by the duration of the media wailing and rending of garments that went on in this country. Have we all not accepted the fact that this is a nation wherein young males are permitted casual access to firearms? If this is how it's going to be, then ... what do you expect? Was it only the 33 all at once that got everybody in a tizzy. By the end of the month, there will be a 133 more. Think it through, for heaven's sake.
Posted by: Libby at April 23, 2007 10:08 PM
Have we all not accepted the fact that this is a nation wherein young males are permitted casual access to firearms?
I'm not sure this is an accurate statement but even if it is...so what?
Males, and females for that matter, have exceedingly easy access to knives, hammers, chain saws, baseball bats, vehicles, ice cycles, swords, poisons, two by fours, and a raft of other weapons, including their bare hands.
More laws or banning guns will not prevent such things from happening. It's life...stuff happens even with all the gun laws and the laws against murder firmly in place. The reason? People kill people...not guns.
Hey Libby...nice to hear from you again.
Posted by: Tina at April 23, 2007 10:39 PM
Hi Libby... I suppose you could argue that the gun laws in VA and a few other states should have prevented a mentally ill person from buying a firearm, we have that law in California... I'll give you that much.
But, don't you think he could have obtained guns other than in person from a licensed gun dealer?
As awful as the shooting in VA was, it really was the act of one crazy, obviously motivated on by our mass media who bring us too much bloody coverage of other school shootings.
We should not make it any more than that. Nobody is calling for repeal of the 1st Amendment because our media stimulates crazy people to do crazy things...why should we be calling for repeal of the 2nd Amendment?
Sure, we have other murders by guns done every day, some are even legally obtained weapons, but most are not. And our laws can't stop those crimes. Countries that have outlawed guns have murders too, plenty of them.
UK's laws haven't reduced their part one crimes now have they?
We will never achieve pefection here and we will never legislate away 200 million guns that are already here, so we deal with it.
I would rather we accept the risks than surrender my weapons, and statistically speaking there are at least twenty other things more likely to get me killed long before being shot by a gun, like my car for instance and nooooo...you can't have that either.
Off topic, but my police officer son finally outshot me on the indoor range Saturday in Chico! The difference was not much, a couple of shots were just outside the 10X ring at 25 yards...uh, for you civilians that would be like shooting a teacup at 75 feet...20 times in fast succession.
Our weapons were: Me .40 cal Beretta semi-auto, 2.5 inch barrel. Him .45 cal. Springfield, semi-auto, 4 inch barrel. These were a real kick to shoot. They're like firing cannons at close range, lots of fun! It's hard to beat that classic .45 in the hands of a master...and he is, but then I taught him. lol
PS All my kids were raised around loaded guns, lots of them. I made sure every weapon in the house was fully loaded at all times...cause you know it's those empty guns that are the ones that kill people right? Anyway, nobody was ever accidentally shot, but they could sure shoot on purpose, if they had too.
Posted by: Jack at April 23, 2007 10:43 PM
Liberals will defend your civil liberties to the death!! (Or at least until someone with a firearm stops them)
Again, Im curious why monitering phone calls from terrorists to supporters in the US is a violation of civil rights which must be opposed at all costs. Because after all if we give up our liberties, the terrorists have already won.
Yet if a psycho happens to kill people with a firearm we must all immediately give up the second ammendment for the sake of security.
If only there were examples of private citizens using firearms to protect themselves...oh wait there are! they just never seem to get any of the lengthy news coverage that these psychos do.
Tell me, is it difficult being a liberal, and never being able to remember which liberties are worth protecting and which arent?
Posted by: Nick Freitas at April 24, 2007 11:40 PM
Nice nail Nick!
Posted by: Tina at April 25, 2007 09:09 AM
Libby, I was raised with guns in my house along with a healthy respect for human life. The majority of my friends, Male and Female were raised the same way. We didn't solve our disputes with them... See healthy respect for human life. I later went on to a career in law enforcement and saw many instances where the right to have arms could have saved lives. Thankfully, I also saw instances, where it did. I find it quite odd that you see the cause for this tragedy to be the access to firearms, and not a respect for human life issue. In a society where we condone the killing of innocent life because we don't want to take responsibility for our actions, it isn't a leap to see how an unstable person solves their perceived problems by killing them. If gun control is the answer, explain to me why the highest violent crime rates exist in areas that have the most restrictive controls, e.g. New York or Los Angeles. You of course will say population, but as a retired cop from South L.A. I can tell you that only 5% of the residents in South LA are responsible for the violent crimes which occurr there. No I'm sorry Libby, there has been enough attributing of evil to things and too little to ones personal conduct. That logic does nothing to secure people from those who would ravage them. It is just an easy way to pretend you have done something. Does anyone else remember the flyers from England to America during the Second World War asking for us to send a gun to save an English family?
Posted by: John F. at April 26, 2007 12:51 PM