On Guns

I did not grow up within a strong “gun culture” – my experiences with guns were few and far between. Having been a Navy Reservist now for nine years, I am qualified (according to Navy standards) to handle the 9mm pistol, and I have been associating with people who did grow up within a strong “gun culture.” I have found the large majority of them to be what I would consider “good people” – kind, considerate, respectful.

Our highly safety-conscious military has extremely strict rules as to who will carry firearms and when, and how and where those firearms will be stowed when not in use. Literally every weapon, magazine, and bullet is accounted for. The first thing you see when you go to the armory to clean your weapon is a sign in big, red letters: USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED. They are not messing around in the armory – if they see you doing something irresponsible and potentially hazardous with your weapon, they will take you down (as a last resort). Safety first.

It occurs to me that if our military has such strong weapons regulations and accountability for our own soldiers and sailors, and given that generally everyone in the military recognizes these regulations as a matter of common sense and safety, then why shouldn’t we expect such regulation on the largely untrained civilian population? Are safety and accountability necessarily in conflict with rights and liberty?

Guns are very dangerous. They are lethal. I would think that a thoughtful, freedom-loving population would see it as being in everyone’s best interest to bring a few more responsibilities to bear on any civilian’s right to own a gun. I think we’re all okay with the concept of “rights and responsibilities.” It just makes sense.

I need to call on my military and “gun culture” friends to fall back on their training. We know “Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.” Well, we have a situation here. Something’s changed in our society, and there will be time to figure it out eventually. Right now, we need to come together as trained professionals who, as human beings, love our fellow human beings more than political rhetoric. Our children, our civilian population – they need us to toss out, not the Constitution, but the political rhetoric that seems to shut down communication, the sharing of ideas.

We need to Improvise some new rhetoric that keeps channels of communication open, moving beyond “from my cold, dead hands!” I don’t even know what the new rhetoric will be – that’s why they call it improv.

We need to Adapt – we don’t know with certainty what’s caused the change in society that is wreaking this havoc on us, but we know change has occurred, so we must adapt to that change now and not wait until we “figure it out.” We have a situation. Children are being slaughtered, and have been for too long in our schools, malls, neighborhoods, streets, and homes.

We need to Overcome. No more of this. No more.

I believe the regulation and accountability we accept as trained professionals in weapons handling is based on common sense and common safety, and we would be irresponsible to not insist upon it for our untrained civilian population. It’s the same irresponsibility as allowing untrained, unlicensed electricians to wire our homes. As with anything useful but potentially lethal, we need guidelines, standards, and accountability to reduce risk as much as possible. In the case of guns, we’re talking about regulation, strict accountability, and, above all, access.

These changes do not necessarily have to mean a threat to liberty. Isn’t a loaded gun in the hands of an unstable, violent person the ultimate form of tyranny? If it’s tyranny you’re itching to overthrow, we can start right here, right now.

An Open Letter To A Liberal Friend, Part 2

If we can agree that everyone at every point of the political spectrum has their humanity in common, then we can expect common behaviors that spring from that fact.

Probably the number one behavior common to all people is that of self-preservation.  Virtually everything we do relates directly or indirectly to maintaining life.  Why do we work?  To earn money.  What do we buy with that money?  Food, shelter, clothing.  Why do we desire those things?  Because they help us sustain our lives.

Aside from natural disasters, disease, or old age, what is it that can most interfere with our efforts to sustain our lives and to pursue our own happiness during the short time we are here?  To put it bluntly, assholes.  And, aside from the generic street thug assholes running around, which assholes pose the greatest threat to our lives and happiness?  The ones in power.  And where are the seats of power in society?  Government, business, and religion.

This is why separation of church and state is desirable – to limit the power of religious authority over civil society.  This is why the Left wants business regulated – to limit the power and influence of Big Business over the lives of the common worker.  This is why the Right wants small government – to limit bureaucratic power over the lives of the average citizen.

It’s a cryin’ shame that, with few exceptions, “humans + power” tends to lead those who find themselves in positions of power to yield to their Inner Asshole.  What do people with power want?  Again, with few exceptions, they want their power to be secure, and they want more power.  This makes them, in the eyes of their fellow human beings who feel they have little or no power, assholes.  And this will always be true regardless of time or place: no one wants their life run (and potentially ruined) by an asshole.  Self-preservation.  It’s instinctual.

Everyone wants the powerful assholes they fear the most to be limited in their power.  “Government regulation” is the Left’s answer to keeping the assholes who run things in the private sector in check.  “Limited government,” or government held in place by the “chains of the Constitution,” is the Right’s answer to checking the power of the assholes who run the government.  It’s the same response to the same fear.  It seems to be a question of what we fear the most.

In this one short paragraph, I can prove that both sides have legitimate concerns.  Do you think we have nothing to fear from leaders in the private sector?  Work in or just visit a sweatshop.  Do you think we have nothing to fear from government?  Look at the Third Reich.  Look at Stalin.  Think of the millions of souls who would scream from their early graves if they could: Beware out-of-control government!  Beware captains of industry who are not held accountable!

The Left and Right would do themselves a favor if they would stop looking at each other and pointing fingers and engaging in constant friction, and realize their common goal: to hold accountable the Assholes In Charge – all of them.

In the next (and last) part, I will share my thoughts on humans as individuals and as parts of a whole, and hopefully bolster my ultimate position that there is far more that unites us than divides.  Thanks for reading, my friend.

An Open Letter To A Liberal Friend, Part 1

I am writing this post as an open letter to a particular friend of mine so that, while addressing him as an individual, I can hopefully bring a “teachable moment” to the masses who daily cling to every word of this blog for knowledge and guidance (hey, I don’t mind making myself the butt of a joke).  :)

Also, when I speak of the libertarian perspective, I mean THIS libertarian.

________________________

Dear Friend,

I am happy to learn that you have an open mind and are at least willing to listen to what I have to say.  Our subject is an old one: whether people should view the needs of society from the individual or collectivist point of view.  You place yourself firmly on the side of the collectivists and have said that, in order to adopt my individualist philosophy, you “would need to know the mercy and kindness in it, rather than the callous indifference and self-centeredness that is apparent on its face.”

 

I’m glad you said, “…that is apparent on its face.”  If you’ve read much of this blog, you will know that I am definitely in favor of looking below the surface of things.  When I last wrote you, I suggested that “we are more of kindred spirits than you may believe when it comes to caring about other people.”

 

To generalize, I am typically viewed as a libertarian, and you are viewed as a liberal.  One point we can agree on and boast about is the fact that we view liberty as belonging to every person equally.  We do not see liberty as something we dole out only to people who look, believe, or behave as we do.  We accept diversity and do not discriminate where the enjoyment of liberty is concerned.  “Freedom” is the root of our party names, and we take to heart the idea that “all men [people] are created equal,” and should therefore enjoy freedom on an equal footing.  We also recognize that, unfortunately, it has not been played out as such on the world stage.  But this has not caused us to give up on the idea!

“Individualism” has been given a bad name by many of the people who espouse it.  To those on the left side of the political spectrum, the philosophies coming from the right can look very callous and self-centered.  Libertarians themselves have also been known to shoot individualism in the foot.  I recently had a conversation with one who had a problem with me saying that “liberty is for the common good.”  He wouldn’t accept “the common good” because it smacked of collectivist ideology.  He said that liberty went beyond the common good and was essential for humanity’s very existence.  I replied that nothing says “common” like the word “humanity,” and that there was no need to fear the word “common” – it does not contain communist cooties.

There seems to be fear on both sides: the left fears that the masses will needlessly suffer if we don’t address them as a whole.  The right fears being controlled by faceless bureaucracies who don’t respect them as individual persons – they fear being reduced to a cog in the bureaucratic machinery.  It is my view that the fears on either side are legitimate.  These fears should not be discounted or written-off merely as the products of baseless and blind party ideology.  These fears are based on something that is undeniably common to both sides of the political spectrum: our shared humanity.