Outlawing guns is going to be difficult, we are awash with them. And a lot of fellow countrymen are clinging to them and will not be interested in having them taken away.
We need to change our attitudes.
We haven’t outlawed racism, but we did make it no longer respectable in polite company. It is still out there but it is mostly in the closet where it doesn’t cause quite as much damage, where it is harder to pass on to the next generation. Similarly, teenage boys will certainly find dirty pictures, but we insist on some discretion in this case, too.
Somethings belong in the closet. Fetishes belong in the closet, including gun fetishes, where they will be a little less involving, where any side effects can cause a little less damage, and where it is harder to proudly pass on to the next generation.
Bumper stickers advertising one’s affection for guns should no longer be considered respectable.
Similarly, the computer games where one shoots and kills others (there is even a technical term for the genre: “first person shooters”) should no longer be considered a respectable activity. Yes, they exist and will continue to exist, but they belong in the closet. How many foes can one kill in an hour of fantasy mayhem with an X-Box? Many. How is that possible?? These targets must be must be astoundingly easy to kill; they must be as easy as shooting first graders.
A little old-fashioned public reproach and shame is called for.
Communities should no more revolve around a love of guns that are specifically designed to kill fellow humans than they should revolve around a love of racism or pornography.
This is not a respectable hobby.
-kb
© 2012 by Kent Borg
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