Confession of a gun nut

BY TONY BOUZA

First and foremost—it’s about handguns and concealable firearms—not long guns, shotguns and rifles. The National Rifle Association (NRA) must be reminded of its middle name. And let’s not blame the victims. It’s the shooters. Yes, there may be some peripheral blame to distribute, but keep it in perspective.

Only national legislation can work. Balkanizing the issue, state by state, is the NRA’s winning strategy, although they’re not doing too badly in the nation’s capital either. Interstate commerce, abortion and guns are national issues.
Handguns should be strictly controlled and licensed. I once flamed out on this issue by saying pistols should be confiscated. Political death. I’d rather be right than governor, anyhow. Do you see any politico plumping handgun control lately? It’s a third rail.

The 2nd Amendment relates to a well-regulated militia on the right to bear arms—or, alternately, to arm bears—but even an expansive view wouldn’t preclude restrictions. And our right to free speech doesn’t afford the privilege of libel, slander, incitement to riot or even the preaching of sedition—to say nothing of conspiracies. Every single right in our Constitution is somehow, somewhere circumscribed. Not one is absolute.

Ours is the only “advanced” nation that regularly awakens to Columbine-Virginia Tech tragedies. If any fool can arm himself (yes, himself) to the teeth and decimate his neighbors, then no one is safe. Ours is a place where the maddest impulses can be brought to life through easy, convenient purchases.
The NRA’s approach is to project the rights of hunters as it perpetuates the convenience of murderers. Five innocents—Amish girls—are murdered, five are wounded, and we shrug.

In the ebb and flow of American politics, abortion rights are currently ascending (the recent Supreme Court decision on banning late-term abortions notwithstanding), and so are those pushing for an armed camp.

The notion of guns for self-protection is really silly. How many of these periodic grotesqueries are interrupted by gun-wielding citizens? And there are no needs of laws protecting your right to defend home and family. Nothing is rarer than the sight of a hero leaping to the defense of a victim by shooting the assailant, unless it’s the sight of a person being convicted for defending castle and contents.

The world is full of sensible examples, why choose Brazil’s?
Abortion must be legal, even if we decry the need to destroy a fetus, as we should. Medical care must be universal. Guns must be controllable.

Is this nuclear science?
Firearms—all kinds—take about 30,000 American lives each year—suicides, accidents and murders. The safest prophecy is that we will, once again, awaken to another horror like Virginia Tech sometime soon. That many are preventable compounds the tragedy. Very sadly, we can also predict that some of the survivors of these awful events will be converted into advocates for gun control. They will be shoveling sand against the NRA’s tsunami.