Public Perception of Guns and Gun Owners

A Public Perception of Guns

I’m tired of seeing guns, and gun owners get a bad name. When I turn on news or open a paper, hardly a day goes by when I don’t see multiple stories about gun violence, both in Chicagoland and in the country. I would expect no less, since Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the U.S., and has also managed to be the murder capital of the U.S. in 2012, and looks to be again in 2013, this despite Chicago having 1/3^rd less the residents of New York. Perhaps criminals are not aware that they are also subject to the same laws as everyone else, and choose to carry, and shoot guns at whom they please. Does making gun ownership more restrictive or challenging really make people safer there? Is it guns that are the problem, or is there more to the story than that? Are there contributing factors, socio-economic issues, lack of jobs, and gang’s that cause a large part of the issue? Did I miss a memo that criminals suddenly follow laws? There are plenty of laws on the books, and honestly, I thought criminals just did not follow them, which is one reason why we are where we are today. Are people naïve enough to believe that if gun ownership was limited, that criminals would still not have guns? If a law was passed, would you expect gangs to show up at their local Police Department and turn in their arsenal?

Truth? 

It may be a bad comparison, but in 2010 there were over 10,000 traffic fatalities reported in the U.S. related to driving under the influence. (30,000 traffic fatalities overall.) In 2010 according to the F.B.I.there were 8,775 deaths related to firearms. That’s less death by firearm than by either traffic accident or due to drunk driving, yet I would wager more news stories focused on firearm death. We have all heard the adage “if it bleeds it leads”, and there usually is a “story” to be told in a shooting death. As a country, we've become that desensitized to hearing about people dying in traffic accidents or as a result of drunk driving.  That’s pretty sad.

I can already hear the arguments, about how people can handle alcohol, and it’s just irresponsible people who get a DUI, or could let that happen. Not everyone who drives, or drinks should be tarred with that brush, and by the same right, not every gun owner is irresponsible. Most gun owners are law abiding citizens, who own guns for a variety of reasons. The problem is when gun’s are front page news, we are all associated with someone who should not have had a gun.

When I looked at shooting sports as possibly a recreational outlet, I started to clarify my own opinions, and my wife and I had a lot of tough conversations. I’d had a gun pointed at me, and she lost a cousin she was close with to suicide with a gun. Both of us had a negative association, but it came out that neither of blamed the gun, we realized it was about the people. A gun in and of itself is a tool, nothing more.

Maybe not quite.....

We have had a string of high profile crimes committed with guns in the U.S. the past few years, we’ve also had an act of domestic terrorism in Boston that demonstrated that people who are of that mindset, don’t always have to use guns. The shame of the matter is that most gun owners are responsible, we own for a variety of reasons, and our freedom’s are impinged upon. Not every driver or drinker has his rights taken assaulted. How many DUI’s before a person loses their license?

While the NRA often get’s a bad name, and while I do support them, Wayne LaPierre does often take some extreme stands, nobody obscures facts more than politicians, and what is worse, is that they are legislating things that they don’t understand. This past year, a house co-sponsor claimed that high capacity magazines are a one time use item. What? She is helping write a bill, and she has no idea at all what she is talking about? It’s a culture of fear, and the politicians are using massacres, and death to scare people, and advance their own agendas. It may be good politics, but it’s a disgusting behavior that will never change as long as voters don’t take the time to educate themselves better than politicians. Why persecute the gun? Simple, because it’s easy to blame an object than solve the reasons behind people having, and using them in that manner.

  

As I came to slowly change my perspective, I’d hesitated to discuss this topic with friends, but as I took the time to get the facts, I dipped my toe in the water several times, and almost universally the results were the same. Too many people are willing to take the easy road, and just assume that guns are bad, because they see them on TV, the newspaper said so, or a politician said so. It’s convinced me that most people will take the easy road, and then get offended if you challenge that point of view.

So where am I going with all this? I’m not sure, I’m tired of the attack, and bad name gun owners get in main stream media. I wish people would take the time to really consider what the problem’s are, and what is really to blame. I’d like to see politicians stop using tragedy to scare Americans, and advance their own agenda. Most gun owners are responsible, considerate, intelligent, and accept the burden of ownership with pride. There are exceptions to every example on every side, but Americans need to wake up, we put band-aids over too many problems, and expect them to go away. This one is not going away, this is a cause worth fighting for.