Guns, Television and Other Opiates

Guns, Television and Other Opiates
by Heather Roscoe

As a political issue, gun violence in America is tedious and dull. It never changes. Whining ceaselessly, pro-gunners argue that pro-controllers want to take away their liberty and their constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. Not wanting to let gun owners back them into a corner, pro-controllers scream that guns get into the hands of CHILDREN!, resulting in elementary school girls being shot by their classmates.

This conflict will never be solved until guns are outlawed in America. Even with gunlocks, even with weapons education, accidents will still happen. There's no way to stop people from shooting each other until they have nothing to shoot each other with.

But then you have another problem. Creativity. Oh yes, never underestimate human creativity. There are so many other ways to kill someone than with a gun. What then? Outlaw knives to keep people from stabbing each other? Do away with ropes, piano wire, neck ties, telephone cords and any other long flexible material to prohibit people from strangling each other?

Blunt objects can kill people, so candlesticks will have to be banned. Heavy vases, canned food, baseball bats and golf clubs will be next on the list. The only solution is to have prefabricated houses with fixed, stainless steel objects that cannot be removed.

Blowing it out of proportion? We'll see.

People no longer seem capable of resolving their problems rationally. Whipping out a gun and blasting the offender away is faster than trying to talk things out. They say that actions speak louder than words and truer words were never spoken. Few people are willing to take responsibility for their own actions. Fewer still attempt to hold them accountable. And, when exposed to enough gratuity and disrespect for human life, it is entirely possible to absorb the morals of a machine.

Many people are familiar with the video game "Wolfenstein" which introduced a new concept to video game players around the globe. The screen shows the tip of a gun or a knife and several Nazi's milling around inside of large, brick-walled rooms. The primary objective is to kill as many of them as possible and find you way out of the Nazi compound.

There is something interesting about this particular game: Most of the time, the player is shooting out of self-defense. None the less, the Nazis in "Wolfenstein" do represent humans. And the goal is still to kill as many of them as possible.

The problem isn't guns, it's the way that people relate to guns. As an immediate solvent to their problems, a gun is the most attractive weapon. Another one of societies immediate solvents is television.

Television is a reflection of society's fantasies, not a reflection of the world in which we live. The world is not as hellish as TV makes it out to be. In fact, it is quite a bit worse. In the real world, the villain does not always get caught, and there are no sequels to continue pursuit. Our distinctions between right and wrong are not as clear-cut as they are in the fake world. In real life, the bad guy doesn't always wear black, and when he walks into a room and the music doesn't change into a minor key.

Heroes are also more difficult to define in the real world. The typical Hollywood hero is not only brave but attractive and charismatic. But back down here on the planet earth heroes look like ordinary people. It's disappointing, but not one man who has helped me when my car has broken down has ever looked like Harrison Ford.

These unclear morals have begun to transgress the boundaries of Hollywood's plastic, sparkly reality and are becoming apparent in our everyday behavior. Thus, violence, which appears so easy and gratifying on the silver screen has permeated much of today's young generation. They see that the person with the gun is feared, even respected. People will do whatever you want when you're pointing a gun at them; that's real power.

Parents are the real culprits, however. Overexposure to violence (leaving little Jonny in front of the TV all day) is a form of neglect. Neglected children are more likely to develop chronic social and emotional problems, and more likely to look to the source which gives them the most attention for moral guidance -- television, of course.

Resolution? Asking gun owners to take mandatory gun education classes is a good idea, but an impractical one. Gun locks are a nice thought too, until you try to pull the trigger in self defense and nothing happens.

Keeping guns legal won't stop people from complaining. Making guns illegal will make the United States a moot point. Perhaps we're using guns as a scapegoat. Guns by themselves can't kill people. Only morally deficient humans are capable of that.

www.american-partisan.com