Writing in the LA Times, the inestimable Barbara Ehrenreich notes that guns have replaced protest in right-wing American culture:
There are all kinds of explanations for how Americans lost their grass-roots political mojo: iPods have been invoked, along with computer games and anti-depressants. And of course much of the credit goes to the so-called populist right of the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck persuasion, which argues that the real enemy of the down-and-out is not the boss or the bank but the “liberal elite” represented by people like (Professor Frances Fox) Piven.
But at least part of the explanation is guns themselves — or, more specifically, the recent and uniquely American addiction to high-powered personal weaponry. Although ropes and bombs are also mentioned, most of the people threatening Piven on Beck’s website referred lovingly to their guns, often by caliber and number of available rounds. As Joan Burbick, author of the 2006 book, “Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy,” has observed, “The act of buying a gun can mimic political action. It makes people feel as if they are engaging in politics of political protest.” She quotes one gun enthusiast: “Whenever I get mad at the government, I go out and buy a gun.” Jobless and overwhelmed by bills? Hunker down in the basement and polish your Glock.
Indeed, the word “resistance” means two different things to an NRA spokesman and a peace activist: the word evokes Red Dawn in the imagination of the former, while the latter is more likely to think of Eyes On The Prize. Gun culture provides a natural audience for the politics of fear and loathing on display at any given tea party, which is why the National Rifle Association does so much tea party outreach.
When Michele Bachmann tells them to be “armed and dangerous,” or Sharron Angle speaks of “Second Amendment remedies,” or Sarah Palin puts crosshairs on a map of congressional districts, they are speaking directly to the confusion of guns and political protest that showed up at town halls in 2009.
Is there a way to counteract this? Yes, and it doesn’t begin with bans on high-capacity magazines. Such laws annoy the IPSC steel plate shooter more than they succeed in preventing gun violence, providing the mental space where the NRA wedges its indoctrination. So rather than focus on regulatory changes, the path forward lies in the simple approach of Mayors Against Illegal Guns:
1) Get all the names of people who should be prohibited from buying guns into the background check system.
2) Require a background check for every gun sale in America.
Two points, clearly articulated, that are hard to argue against. In part, the failure of the 1994 assault rifle ban was ensured by its symbolic value (“they’re taking our guns!”) versus its actual outcome (weapons were banned on appearance, not functionality). This is different. Furthermore, sensible (and simple!) ideas must be presented by gun owners themselves. In commenting on the mayors’ plan over at DailyKos, Neal Rauhauser (AKA StrandedWind) writes:
I grew up on the Iowa/Minnesota border in a town of seven hundred, forty miles from the nearest interstate ramp. Every boy gets a BB gun in the first few years of gradeschool, a preteen with a .22 rifle is completely unremarkable, and teenagers pursue ducks and geese with shotguns as soon as they’re large enough to handle the recoil.
My son is in his early teens and he’s on this path. The BB gun was long ago turned over to his little sister and his single shot rifle is accompanied by a Winchester Model 37 shotgun that I got brand new back in the 1970s. Gun safety comes first – I didn’t get him the rifle until he consistently demonstrated the mindfulness needed to not accidentally point the BB gun at me or his sister. Equal rights are in effect, she’s just younger than him so timing wise a rifle of her own will probably happen this summer.
What he’s describing there is an American culture that values guns for hunting and sport. It is largely rural, and more endangered by suburban sprawl than Congress. Its values are different from an urban culture that wants easy gun access ended. Obama recognized this in 2008:
We essentially have two realities, when it comes to guns, in this country. You’ve got the tradition of lawful gun ownership. It is very important for many Americans to be able to hunt, fish, take their kids out, teach them how to shoot. Then you’ve got the reality of 34 Chicago public school students who get shot down on the streets of Chicago. We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns, but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets.
Of course, the president has not done much about guns while in office. He has earned a grade of “F” in every category measured by the Brady Campaign and was criticized for leaving the issue out of his State Of The Union speech this week. But it seems he will get around to it soon:
In a discussion with a small group of bloggers and reporters on Wednesday at the White House, Senior Advisor David Axelrod said there was “no doubt” the President will address the gun issue at a later date.
“I don’t know exactly how we’re going to approach it,” he said when asked by The Huffington Post whether Obama would be giving a speech on it, “but obviously these issues are out there and have been extenuated by the tragedy in Tucson. And so we will — he will engage in that … debate.”
Obama certainly can’t defuse the reaction. The paranoid minds of talk radio will surely tell their listeners that requiring a background check is the slippery slope to government confiscation. But it doesn’t matter what they say: if the president articulates a clear, simple message couched in respect for the Second Amendment, Americans will approve. According to the polls, they already do.
It will not be instant — there is an entire right-wing noise industry propagating the guns-as-activism meme — but this is one way we begin transforming the culture. Another important way would be renewed emphasis on nonviolence in America; the best proof that guns are not necessary to protect your rights is the brilliant sight of peaceful demonstration. As I’ve said here and elsewhere, the armed resistance of the tea party is best contrasted by the unarmed resistance of progressive activism. Here’s to hoping for more of it in the new year.
