Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
Earlier this month, in the course of one twenty-four period, thirty-three people were killed during two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. According to CBS News, as of August 5th, there have been over two hundred fifty-five deaths resulting mass shootings in this country since the beginning of the year. In the two most recent incidents, federal authorities have been investigating whether white supremacist groups, to which at least one shooter had affiliations, constitute a terrorist threat.
These massacres are the latest in a long line of mass shootings. We know—all too well—the names Columbine, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Parkland, Las Vegas, and many, many more. And, even after the horrors of Sandy Hook, in which twenty elementary school children were slaughtered, we, as Americans did nothing.
In his eulogy to John McCain, George W. Bush said:
“If we’re ever tempted to forget who we are, grow weary of our cause, John’s voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder: We are better than this. America is better than this.”
Are we? If we can afford to sit on our hands while dozens of our countrymen, our children, are killed, what good are we? Maybe not as good as we think we are. After all, look at where we come from. Our forefathers were no strangers to violence or oppression.
The first visitors to this country thanked their Native American hosts, who taught them how to survive their first winter, by virtually annihilating their population. During America’s relentless westward expansion, entire native tribes were slaughtered, perished from disease, and were then squeezed onto tiny reservations.
Meanwhile, in the American South, other esteemed and respected Americans began the practice of transporting kidnapped Africans across the ocean, torturing them, and forcing them into lifetimes of slavery. After the Civil War, which put an end to this despicable practice, terrorist groups arose in the South, and seeking to suppress the newfound freedoms of ex-slaves, formed a brand-new organization. The KKK—the original white supremacist group—burned down African-American homes, churches, and schoolhouses, instituting a reign of terror across the Deep South.
During the taming of the American West, the legend of the gun-slinging avenger arose, a courageous figure willing and able to carry out of his own brand of rough justice. We all know this guy: Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Bruce Willis, and many others portrayed this idealized embodiment of rugged individualism, the American purveyor of justice. The six-gun was the main tool of this heroic icon, and in the righteous hands of the Western hero, the bad guys were conveniently mowed down in a hail of bullets.
This American love affair with the gun has never really gone away. Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Elliot Ness have helped ingrain it into the fabric of our national consciousness. On the flip side, our fascination with Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Al Capone, and John Gotti also underlines the dark side of the American fascination with guns, rugged individualism, and even—in one odd context—entrepreneurship.
So is it any surprise that Americans still love their guns today? We see all varieties of firearms glamorized in our entertainment industry. Hollywood blockbusters, video games, television shows, and even social media champion guns as status symbols, security blankets, and even—to some—as practical solutions to their problems. All species of weapons are championed in the media: AR15s, Mausers, Winchesters, the M56 Smart Gun (Aliens), the .44 Magnum (Dirty Harry) and many more garden variety pistols and rifles.
Unfortunately, firearm deaths in this country have become so widespread and commonplace the Center for Disease Control has sought—unsuccessfully—to categorize gun deaths as a public health hazard. They have prevented from doing so by the powerful U.S. gun lobby, the NRA. This organization has also successfully blocked such common-sense legislative proposals as background checks, red flags, and a ban on assault weapons. The NRA still maintains its stranglehold on the U.S. Congress even after polls have showed growing support for gun-law reform. A whopping ninety percent of Americans support background checks, seventy-five percent support red flag legislation, and sixty-seven percent support a ban on assault weapons.
But the N.R.A., and the money it brings into our legislative process, has stymied the will of the American people. If ninety percent of the people want anything, shouldn’t their representatives do their utmost to fulfill that desire? If the Center for Disease Control wants to categorize gun deaths and injuries in this country as a health threat of epidemic proportions, shouldn’t our senators and representatives do something about it?
This ineffectiveness, unfortunately, is only the tip of the iceberg. Gun control is only one of the issues that bears scrutiny by our lawmakers. So is universal health care. So is climate change. So is economic equity. So is the issue of race relations. Again, according to a majority of popular opinion polls, a majority of Americans support significant and lasting change in these areas of their lives. They have felt this way for some time, but unfortunately, our legislative bodies seem to be paralyzed. After all, career politicians want to remain career politicians. Rather than go out on a limb to propose or support legislation to make life better for its citizens, many of our politicos prefer to play it safe, to sit on their hands, to let other guys take their chances. After all, it’s easier to duck criticism if you keep a low profile.
Are we better than this? If our democratic ideals, our Constitution, still mean anything, then yes, we must be better than this. If the people we elect refuse—out of self-preservation and self-interest—to act, then we, as American citizens must prove that we are better than the powers that be, the forces that support and preserve this deadly (in every sense) inertia. People are dying. Children are dying. Our schools are becoming shooting ranges. If our government will not stop this, then we must. And we can.
There is a fresh wind blowing in Congress. Young, idealistic, and humanistic representatives are pushing, pulling, and doing everything else in their power to disrupt the sluggishness in Washington, D.C. These new kids are what America is all about; they are the people; they are change. They care much more deeply about the people they serve than the money waiting to line their pockets. They are better than that. We can be, too, and we need to be. Now.