Gun control is not about gun control
I have listened to and read the often-passionate arguments about gun control, second amendment rights and a litany of statistics on all side of the argument. I would like to suggest that most of us are perhaps missing the point. I personally do not think that the issue should be gun control per se. Of course, I would like to see the manufacture, sale and distribution of guns, ammunition, and devices to augment the ability of to shoot more bullets in rapid succession decrease. I am well aware; however, it is big business. I am also very aware that us humans are often very creative. From a purely mechanical standpoint guns are a testament to that creativity. Even the design and artistic execution of guns and their stocks are a testament to the creativity of many humans. If humans want to find a way to destroy each other we will do so. If one is committed to finding the only gun left in a city the size of New York City I am sure that there is possibility that a determined and creative person could locate it.
I would like to suggest that it is the moral/ethical responsibility of the leaders in any community to model the behavior one would like to see the community following. When my son was growing up the rules in my house was that there were no violent or military toys permitted. I recall one place we lived where we placed a box on the porch for my son’s visitors to “check” their violent and military toys. I do not recall any child complaining about that. Children who came to visit my son Jamie tended to be as creative as he was. One of the favorite pastime was to write and produce theatrical productions performed by the many hand puppets he had. They would use the tri-fold puppet theater I had constructed.
I was well aware that I had no control over what toys he played with when he was at his mother’s house or at the homes of friends or relatives. My job was to model the belief some people believe that humans can find non-violent solutions to their differences – non-violently create a safe and loving community. I also took my son to events promoting non-violence and the celebration of the diversity of us humans. As a child, he was not always happy about participating. Yet, recently he thanked me for this education.
It was my job as a parent to model non-violence – verbal and physical. Again, I knew I had no control over his choices as an adult but I could and did attempt to introduce him to alternative ways of thinking.
I think it is similarly the job of our local, national and international leaders to model non-violent solutions to human disagreements and conflict. Passing legislations restricting the manufacture, sale and purchase of non-hunting for food guns is a moral stance. It is not about the illusion that we can ever completely control the use of manufacture, sale and use of guns or other weapons designed to kill other humans. Such legislation would say that we have a moral/ethical responsibility to invite others to consider non-violent conflict resolution. Furthermore, it would say that we are committed to non-violent and non-lethal means of policing at all levels. It would say that as a nation we are going to focus on non-violent means of conflict resolution – that we are going to going to take the example and advice of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. seriously.
All evidence shows that positive leadership, whether it is a group of nations signing a non-nuclear proliferation treaty or a single person refusing to defensively or offensively use violence, makes a positive difference.
Passing a gun control measure would say that the United States wants to take a leadership role in seeking non-violent solutions. It would say that the NRA is not in charge – that our elected representatives are more concerned with moral leadership than getting re-elected.
Yes, it is true that people use people to kill. Guns do not act independently of people. It is also true that, as a nation, we have actively and passively modeled that one should respond to violence with violence. It is long past time we allowed for the possibility that non-violence is much more powerful.
I am not suggesting that everyone is going to suddenly be healthy but my experience and my research tells me that when leadership is healthy, loving and respectful a majority of people follow that example. Passing legislation restricting the manufacturing, sale, and ownership of non-hunting for food guns is a very powerful moral/ethical leadership model.
Written on October 6, 2017
I have listened to and read the often-passionate arguments about gun control, second amendment rights and a litany of statistics on all side of the argument. I would like to suggest that most of us are perhaps missing the point. I personally do not think that the issue should be gun control per se. Of course, I would like to see the manufacture, sale and distribution of guns, ammunition, and devices to augment the ability of to shoot more bullets in rapid succession decrease. I am well aware; however, it is big business. I am also very aware that us humans are often very creative. From a purely mechanical standpoint guns are a testament to that creativity. Even the design and artistic execution of guns and their stocks are a testament to the creativity of many humans. If humans want to find a way to destroy each other we will do so. If one is committed to finding the only gun left in a city the size of New York City I am sure that there is possibility that a determined and creative person could locate it.
I would like to suggest that it is the moral/ethical responsibility of the leaders in any community to model the behavior one would like to see the community following. When my son was growing up the rules in my house was that there were no violent or military toys permitted. I recall one place we lived where we placed a box on the porch for my son’s visitors to “check” their violent and military toys. I do not recall any child complaining about that. Children who came to visit my son Jamie tended to be as creative as he was. One of the favorite pastime was to write and produce theatrical productions performed by the many hand puppets he had. They would use the tri-fold puppet theater I had constructed.
I was well aware that I had no control over what toys he played with when he was at his mother’s house or at the homes of friends or relatives. My job was to model the belief some people believe that humans can find non-violent solutions to their differences – non-violently create a safe and loving community. I also took my son to events promoting non-violence and the celebration of the diversity of us humans. As a child, he was not always happy about participating. Yet, recently he thanked me for this education.
It was my job as a parent to model non-violence – verbal and physical. Again, I knew I had no control over his choices as an adult but I could and did attempt to introduce him to alternative ways of thinking.
I think it is similarly the job of our local, national and international leaders to model non-violent solutions to human disagreements and conflict. Passing legislations restricting the manufacture, sale and purchase of non-hunting for food guns is a moral stance. It is not about the illusion that we can ever completely control the use of manufacture, sale and use of guns or other weapons designed to kill other humans. Such legislation would say that we have a moral/ethical responsibility to invite others to consider non-violent conflict resolution. Furthermore, it would say that we are committed to non-violent and non-lethal means of policing at all levels. It would say that as a nation we are going to focus on non-violent means of conflict resolution – that we are going to going to take the example and advice of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. seriously.
All evidence shows that positive leadership, whether it is a group of nations signing a non-nuclear proliferation treaty or a single person refusing to defensively or offensively use violence, makes a positive difference.
Passing a gun control measure would say that the United States wants to take a leadership role in seeking non-violent solutions. It would say that the NRA is not in charge – that our elected representatives are more concerned with moral leadership than getting re-elected.
Yes, it is true that people use people to kill. Guns do not act independently of people. It is also true that, as a nation, we have actively and passively modeled that one should respond to violence with violence. It is long past time we allowed for the possibility that non-violence is much more powerful.
I am not suggesting that everyone is going to suddenly be healthy but my experience and my research tells me that when leadership is healthy, loving and respectful a majority of people follow that example. Passing legislation restricting the manufacturing, sale, and ownership of non-hunting for food guns is a very powerful moral/ethical leadership model.
Written on October 6, 2017
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