America and Guns - Part 1 of 3

Putting guns into perspective.

American culture is unique in its relationship to firearms. We have a history dating back only 400 years when guns were a central part of life. Early settlers relied on their rifles for both food and protection. Western pioneers relied on them for both as well. From the viewpoint of a white pioneer, the west was won at the point of a gun. ( The Indian perspective was the opposite.) In this regard, "winning" is a dubious honor.

This mystique of history has carried over to the present day. Unlike European countries with longer histories that were settled long before the arrival of guns, America is a country whose history is interwoven with firearms. The telling of history has a tendency to glamorize weapons and discount suffering. This distorts our perception of what firearms mean in our contemporary society. The America of today is not the America of the 1700's and 1800's.

The Constitution enshrined the right of the people to bear arms. Specifically, it says: "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." The right to bear arms is stated after the premise for the right. At the time of the constitution, the U.S. had no standing army. For a lot of early U.S. history, military forces were raised when necessary. Under those conditions, the need for an armed citizenry was essential for the protection of the nation. Also, having gained its freedom from Britain by the force of arms, the country and its founders understood that a defenseless population was easy prey for a tyrannical government - one they had just thrown off.

Put in its contemporary context, the second amendment protected the right to own a single shot, muzzle loading, flintlock rifle and pistols of the same sort. The Bushmaster AR 15 semi-automatic, assault-style weapon is so technologically advanced from a musket, that it requires continued reinterpretation of the amendment to keep pace with modern firearms. The paths for doing that are laws passed by the Congress and the states and their review by the Supreme Court. It is not a fast or easy process and it is beset by strong rhetoric and political influence, but it is the process.

The three ideas of: government tyranny, the need for personal protection from a hostile environment, and the necessity of hunting for survival, all influence our current perceptions of gun ownership and gun control.

How do we merge history with contemporary society to find the right place for firearms in today’s America? It is a daunting question. It would be a bit easier to discuss the issue of gun ownership and gun control if more data were available in the public domain. Once source of information is a database on firearms kept by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).  Knowing what types of guns are used for homicides and criminal acts would help guide legislation. However, the ATF information can only be released to law enforcement officials in conjunction with an investigation. This restriction is called the Tiahrt amendment. The Tiahrt amendment has been attached to the federal budget for years. It prohibits AFT from using any of its funds to publish the data it has collected. This blatant, back door suppression of information serves no useful purpose for society as a whole. It is opposed by mayors and police organizations. Supporters of an enlightened discussion of guns in America would help the cause by petitioning their representatives to remove the Tiahrt amendment.