bradshreffIt only seems fair to start this post with an admission. I am a gun owner. In the past, I was even a member of the NRA. I was born in Georgia, have family that still lives on hunt-able land there, have gone hunting myself. I’ve made the arguments myself that people having guns makes us safer. I’ve quoted the 2nd Amendment, I’ve said that taking guns away doesn’t help.
Today, I’ve decided enough is enough and I’m done keeping these thoughts to myself. I just had a lengthy argument with one of my students who argued against taking guns away to prevent further deaths, and point by point I dismantled his opinion. And, in the interest of sharing this discussion with you, here is a summary of that discussion.
Student: My dad is a gun owner, he goes shooting with police officers regularly, takes care of his guns. Taking his guns away won’t fix anything.
He’s not wrong here. Here’s the real issue. Taking my guns away won’t save anyone’s lives, won’t prevent a school shooting. That isn’t the same as saying that taking guns away won’t prevent school shootings.
There is a simple economics principal to consider, so I’m going to try to put it simply. Think about supply and demand. Currently, if a crazy person wants to shoot up a school, they have a demand for a gun. Currently, there is a massive supply of guns. Therefore, the cost (both monetarily and in difficulty) is easy low. Even if you require more stringent background checks, you won’t fix it because private sales are still a thing, and guns can be stolen, lost, transferred, taken, etc.
Reduce the supply, you increase demand. Costs of illegal guns will go up, and just the act of owning it becomes illegal, making the chances of preventing the shootings go up. It isn’t a fix that will happen overnight, but over time.
Student: Second Amendment! We have a right to bear arms!
First of all, the Second Amendment says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Given that roughly none of the current citizens owning firearms are also members of a Militia, it feels less valid. We don’t ever hear that part though, do we? “Right to bear arms!” “right to bear arms!” they scream. They don’t really want to actually drill with their neighbors, march across the roads and practice maneuvers though, do they?
Beyond that though, lets look at the spirit of the amendment. It was intended to make sure that the people would be able to stand up against a tyrannical government, to reinforce the idea that the government is for the people. Should the government get out of control, the people can stand up, armed, and defend themselves.
Except, even ignoring the fact that assault weapons are banned in many states, the citizens do not own weaponry that would give them any chance against our military. We don’t have missiles, drones, fully-automatic weapons, or any other of the myriad of machines of death our military does. Hell, even in the Revolutionary War, we probably couldn’t have won against Great Britain if they didn’t have to transport their army to us. A militia doesn’t overthrow a government in power on the home front.
Student: Shooting is fun, I like target shooting.
I agree, it is fun. It isn’t 16-people-not-going-home-to-their-families fun. If the cost of me going to shoot at some targets at a range is the deaths of children in schools, it isn’t worth it. That equation doesn’t balance in my head.
Student: You want to take all guns away based on the hope that something is going to get better. This is all opinions and guesses.
You want to do nothing based on the hope that things will get better. I don’t need your thoughts and prayers, I need change.
Still, if we take this further, lets look at some of the facts.
Look at that chart again. Please. Because it is that important.
“But people will kill each other regardless!”
Teachers, this is what I ask of you. Stop holding your tongue. Even on twitter, I saw teachers drying up, stop talking. I heard teachers say “thoughts and prayers”, but few of them said “Oh hell no, this has to stop.” We cannot stay quiet, cannot do nothing, while the NRA and other groups pour money into the pockets of politicians who don’t care to represent us, who continue to allow these atrocities to occur. It has to stop.
Stop staying quiet. Stop believing we have to play the middle ground. Stop thinking that it’s our job to make kids think on their own. There are 16 people from a city not 3 hours away from me, who will never think again, on their own or otherwise.
Enough is enough.