| Business |
In guns we trust
ONE violent death anywhere in the
world is cause for sadness.
More than 30 violent deaths at the hands of one person must prompt
the need for a society to examine its very foundations.
The events in the state of Virginia in the USA appear to have
created a brief pause in the frantic flow of American affairs.
Yet to an outside observer, much of the reaction to the slaughter
of those victims by a deranged 23-year-old student has been
incomprehensible.
How can Americans, even after this horrendous bloodbath, continue
to staunchly support the private bearing of arms by citizens?
Surely this was the moment when the realities of an armed society
would come home to roost?
It seems not.
Reports indicate that the power of the gun continues to mesmerise
ordinary Americans.
A majority of American households will continue to boast weapons
on the sideboard.
A poll late last week showed that 47% of Americans wanted the gun
laws tightened.
But an incredible 38% said they should remain unchanged, while a
further 11% wants the laws loosened or abolished.
In other words a majority of the American public, almost half, is
happy with the existing laws or wants firearms made even more
accessible than they are today.
Readers will recall the massacre at Port Arthur in Australia.
That was the world’s worst mass killing by an individual; Martin
Bryant opened fire and killed 35 people single-handedly on April
28, 1996, 11 years ago next Saturday.
That shocking moment led to the introduction of gun laws
reflecting a sharp change of direction on the part of the
Australian people and their government.
The laws now in place are among the toughest in the world and all
but the Australian criminal fringe appear satisfied with the
outcome.
Yet Australia’s Port Arthur massacre, as remote as you could get
from the US mainland, was to lead five years later to an outburst
in a notorious US gun lobby magazine, US Gun and Ammo, in May
2001.
Headed “A Shortcut to Australia’s Civilian Disarmament?” and
sub-headlined “Fight for your Firearms Freedom”, the article
presented a hefty file of accusations, alleged deceptions, false
evidence and conspiracy theories to do whatever it could to
discredit the Australian government’s rapid anti-gun response.
It was apparent that the introduction of across the board bans for
the ownership of many kinds of firearms in Australia was seen as a
possible threat to the American freedom to bear arms.
The Virginia killings have resulted in a massive outpouring of
grief.
That is to be expected; were it otherwise, our concern would be
even greater.
And all manner of psychological explanations have been offered.
The young man was autistic, some of his relatives claim.
He was isolated, indeed, the whole family appears to have had only
fringe contact with the South Korean community in the States.
The fact remains that this young man was part of the American
social and educational fabric from the time he was eight.
How can the degree of hatred and violence he displayed in
writings, drawings, verse and finally a video have come about in a
society that prides itself on its far reaching social and
psychiatric services, and escaped without more than a passing
comment?
Is the violence that now saturates so much of everyday life in
America the root cause of the spate of teen and young adult
murderers at educational institutions?
For this is, even at second hand, a society in which actual
violence or simulated violence can be readily accessed.
The long-debated influence of television and movies and the
ceaseless diet of blood-soaked violence available in both media is
one troubling factor.
And another may well be the involvement of the US in overseas wars
of the most violent and vicious kind.
What is the impact of Iraq on ordinary young Americans?
What does this have to do with PNG?
In certain parts of our country, the proliferation of personal
weapons has already reached US levels.
How long do we have left before the terrifying explosions of death
and mass murder now common in the US strike at the heart of our
nation?
 
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