When The Right to Own Guns Trumps The Right to Live

The curious case of America’s love for guns

“I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts. I want those bastards in Congress….. They need to pass gun control so no one else has a child that doesn’t come home.” ( Susan Orfanos, mother of a mass shooting victim, Telemachus Orfanos)

The United States of America is a great nation. It has unique social customs, cultural practices and political attitudes. One aspect of American life — gun ownership- has never ceased to fascinate and confound the world.

This is an outsider’s bewildered look at America’s gun culture which is a riddle wrapped in an enigma. A nation’s history, culture, and politics are intertwined. This interplay of multiple forces gives rise to customs and attitudes that may look odd for an outsider. I don’t intend to judge America’s gun culture in any way, especially through the prism of my second-hand knowledge.

The right to bear firearms as a fundamental right is unthinkable in most parts of the world. Not so in the US. where it’s a non-negotiable right.

“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.”( Second Amendment to the U.S.Constitution)

Gun ownership in the US has historical roots. It is shrouded in social, cultural, and political beliefs and attitudes. It’s a divisive issue and evokes strong emotions whenever it is debated in public forums.

According to the 2018 Small Arms Survey (a project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland), the US had the highest civilian-owned firearms in the world- 120.5 guns per 100 residents.

There are more guns than people in the US. Interpretation of data is a tricky affair. The high gun-people ratio doesn’t mean every American owns a gun. Gun ownership is restricted to a minority that is passionate as well as powerful.

The correlation between gun ownership and gun violence is palpable

Loaded guns are not toys. Possession of guns carries with it an enormous risk of owners using them indiscriminately.

“If in Act One you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act.” ( Anton Chekhov)

The Russian playwright was talking about a literary device- any element introduced into the play should have a function in the overall narrative. If we extrapolate the literary device to the real world, many gun owners buy weapons with the intention of using them.

According to 2012 United Nations data compiled by the Guardian, the US has nearly six times the gun homicide rate of Canada, more than seven times the rate of Sweden, and nearly 16 times that of Germany. Gun-related deaths include both homicides and suicides. Firearm suicides are as tragic as firearm homicides.

Mass shootings, where gun-wielding assailants indiscriminately killed innocent people in public spaces, malls, and schools, have happened with sickening regularity in the US. About a dozen to hundreds of mass shootings happen every year in the US.

Why is America’s gun culture deep-rooted?

There are several reasons why gun ownership is high in the US.

• There is a deep psychological root to America’s gun culture, one that has coded itself into the nation’s DNA. According to Richard Slotkin, a cultural historian, the frontier myth shaped America’s national narrative. Two themes dominated popular thinking even during colonial times: “taking up the ‘free’ or ‘virgin land’ of the wilderness, and defeating the savage natives in a war of races”. For the contemporary gun-wielding maverick, there is no new frontier except their own home and values. The savages are the imaginary enemies who pose a threat to what the gun owners perceive as their ‘pure’ culture.
• The Civil War and its entanglement with slavery had powerful associations with gun ownership. The Civil War’s legacy is a belief that has seized the public imagination — firearms are inalienable private property.
• Ideologically, there’s a deep mistrust of the government in the US. Many people fear that the government will seize their private property, as sacred space for Americans.
• American culture values individualism as a creed. Guns became a tangible symbol of individual freedom.

The law alone cannot change America’s gun culture since it’s a multi-dimensional problem.

Why is the US unable to reform its gun culture?

The high prevalence of gun-related violence in the US has made it an outlier among developed nations. Except in the US, others have made tough gun laws that restrict private ownership of firearms. For instance, Australia made a tough gun law after a mass shooting in 1996. The Australian government bought back 650000 guns from the owners, created a gun registry, banned sophisticated and lethal weapons, and introduced licensing for possessing guns. The government’s drastic legislation saw homicide and suicide rates plummeting in the subsequent years.

Surveys conducted by Pew Research Centre have found that the majority of Americans favour restrictions on private ownership of guns. If that’s the case what prevents the federal and state governments from enacting tough gun laws?

Historically, the silent majority, notwithstanding its good intentions, has been passive and indifferent to changing the status quo. On the other hand, a passionate and vocal minority has made its voice heard in the corridors of power. The ‘intensity’ factor — how gun advocates and gun opponents took up their cause — made all the difference.

For instance, the National Rifle Association ( NRA) is a powerful lobby against gun control laws. The NRA wields considerable clout among the lawmakers.

Final thoughts

Gun violence in the US is an untreated epidemic. If the emotional costs are huge, the financial costs are staggeringly enormous.

“At a moment when every dollar counts, our federal. state, and local governments are spending a combined average of $34.8 million each day to deal with the aftermath of gun violence across the country. The total annual bill for taxpayers, survivors, families, employers, and communities is $280 billion.” (everytownreserach.org)

It’s not rocket science to understand that guns take lives. Is America stuck with its violent gun culture? Absolutely not. A push back against gun violence has been gaining momentum over the years. A tipping point may come in the near future when the nation’s collective conscience is jolted out of its slumber. A generation that is far removed from America’s historical baggage may arise and cut the Gordian knot of the nation’s gun culture decisively. In that historical moment, America will signal that it values lives more than guns.

Thanks for reading!

Referenced articles