When the world woke up to the tragic news of the Virginia Tech massacre, it was only natural for people to point the finger squarely at American society. The inertia of the United States to institute some type of meaningful gun control is, for a lack of a better word, criminal. And the rest of the world, myself included, is disgusted by the inaction of the American people.
It is difficult for outsiders to appreciate how profoundly conservative the American people are. Internally, America is viewed as an incarnation of God, the Founding Fathers are venerated as prophets and the Constitution is the Holy Scripture. Am I wrong, my American friends? Well, how else can one possibly justify the Second Amendment? The Second Amendment is a relic from the late 18th century which entitles Americans to bear arms and form militias. This legislation was indicative of the historical context in which the United States was born. Presently, there is no justifiable premise for it. Nevertheless, it persists because of a typically American obsession with maintaining the wishes of the Fathers.
So what of the Founding Fathers? How would they respond? One can be assured that they would be horrified by the 30,000 gun related deaths perpetrated annually. One can be assured that they would be disgusted by the scale of weapons penetration within their homeland. By opportunistically equating the right to bear arms with other freedoms afforded by the Bill of Rights, the firearms lobby has sucessfully convoluted the issue just enough to confuse the average patriotic American.
The second argument cited by gun advocates is even more absurd: guns don't kill people; people kill people. You have to be fundamentally deranged to make this argument, and have the intelligence of an amoeba to accept it. Guns facilitate murder. Guns are an efficient means of committing mass murder. Without access to a semiautomatic weapon, the Virginia Tech massacre may have been a homicide.
I am underwhelmed by the ability of the American people to relate the events of April 16th to their policy on weapons. This level of carnage will persist until American voters become mature enough to effect a change in legislation. The point of this post is by no means to berate the Americans. On the contrary, I write because I care about Americans and was deeply moved by this tragedy.
It is difficult for outsiders to appreciate how profoundly conservative the American people are. Internally, America is viewed as an incarnation of God, the Founding Fathers are venerated as prophets and the Constitution is the Holy Scripture. Am I wrong, my American friends? Well, how else can one possibly justify the Second Amendment? The Second Amendment is a relic from the late 18th century which entitles Americans to bear arms and form militias. This legislation was indicative of the historical context in which the United States was born. Presently, there is no justifiable premise for it. Nevertheless, it persists because of a typically American obsession with maintaining the wishes of the Fathers.
So what of the Founding Fathers? How would they respond? One can be assured that they would be horrified by the 30,000 gun related deaths perpetrated annually. One can be assured that they would be disgusted by the scale of weapons penetration within their homeland. By opportunistically equating the right to bear arms with other freedoms afforded by the Bill of Rights, the firearms lobby has sucessfully convoluted the issue just enough to confuse the average patriotic American.
The second argument cited by gun advocates is even more absurd: guns don't kill people; people kill people. You have to be fundamentally deranged to make this argument, and have the intelligence of an amoeba to accept it. Guns facilitate murder. Guns are an efficient means of committing mass murder. Without access to a semiautomatic weapon, the Virginia Tech massacre may have been a homicide.
I am underwhelmed by the ability of the American people to relate the events of April 16th to their policy on weapons. This level of carnage will persist until American voters become mature enough to effect a change in legislation. The point of this post is by no means to berate the Americans. On the contrary, I write because I care about Americans and was deeply moved by this tragedy.
