Fear and the gun debate

[resqgeek]

The gun control debate[1] rages on (and on...).  As I see the seemingly endless stream of posts on my Facebook feed from both sides, I find myself alternating between anger and despair.  While both sides of this issue have become entrenched and are stubbornly repeating the same points over and over again, I find much of what is being presented by the “gun rights” advocates to be especially disturbing.  There is an ugliness to these postings that make me worry about the extremes to which some of these people might be willing to go to defend their positions.  Additionally, these same postings seem to reflect an almost willful ignorance that I find simply inexcusable.

Why is it that so much of the rhetoric from those opposed to gun control appears to be motivated by fear and paranoia?  One of the frequent arguments is that gun ownership is important so that the people can oppose a tyrannical government.  They make it sound like there is an imminent threat of the government stripping us of all our rights.  Where does this paranoia come from?  One recent posting suggested that the protections of the first amendment are in imminent danger of being revoked, and that we will need our guns so as to defend our first amendment rights.  I simply don’t get it…I simply don’t see any evidence that the government is trying to roll back the first amendment.  In fact, the Supreme Court has strongly upheld the first amendment in recent decisions, even for those who use them in the most despicable ways (I’m think of the Westboro Baptist Church, for example).

It strikes me that the fear and paranoia of the opponents of sensible gun control is the same fear and paranoia that drives those who believe in various conspiracy theories.  I don’t understand this mindset, but it certainly doesn’t appear to be rational.  And because it isn’t rational, it becomes impossible to convince those with this mindset that they might be mistaken.  They view the world from within a bubble that distorts their impressions, and so they interpret the actions of others in ways that reinforce their worldview.  Thus any effort to impose any limitations on the right to bear arms is understood as just the first step down the road to a total ban on all guns and the revocation of the second amendment.

So, while the content of many of these postings does anger me, that anger is often followed by a sense of despair.  I long for a meaningful debate, where both sides come to the table willing to at least listen to the other side and acknowledge their honest motives.  Unfortunately, the paranoia evident on at least one side seems to suggest that such a discussion is fundamentally impossible.  And without such a discussion, any effort to impose meaningful and sensible limitations on firearms will just be fuel on the fire of the oppositions fear.

---

[1] I use the term “debate” a bit loosely, since a true debate implies that the opposing sides are actually trying to bridge the gap between them, and I’m far from convinced that the current dynamics include any such effort.

Comments

[discoverylover.livejournal.com]

Not really adding to the debate, but have you heard this song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKKcx8dDI78

Feel free to ignore the images, they're a bit random!

[resqgeek]

While the images clearly suggest that this is meant to be satirical, the song itself is, perhaps, a little bit too subtle...without the video, I can see people understanding it more as an anthem than a satire.

[discoverylover.livejournal.com]

maybe I've heard it too many times to take it seriously!