The U.S. Gun Debate

After the massacre at Newtown, Connecticut, the on again, off again conversation about the need to regulate the sale and distribution of automatic weapons has once again flared up in America. The powerful gun lobby NRA, which has consistently funded politicians who are pro-gun, vehemently sent expressed its displeasure, through the emotional outburts of its most dedicated, dare I say, fanatical members. Among this is the fearsome, almost rabid Alex Jones, whose tirade in the CNN Pier's Morgan show clearly showed that these so-called Second Amendment Defenders are as dogmatic as any religious zealot can be.

Despite proven statistics that says that among rich countries with fewer guns, fewer gun related violence exists. The NRA and its minions insist that keeping guns, and arming more people will ensure a better protected society. Of course, if you look at the statistics between Japan and the U.S., this is clearly not the case. In Japan, gun ownership is a tough endeavor, potential gun applicants will have to pass a series of rigorous psychological, practical and financial hurdles even being given a license to own one, and that is just a handgun. Annual crime rates related to guns in Japan number less than 20, in the U.S., 12,000 gun related violence and deaths were reported in 2011 alone.

But of course, if you talk to the likes of Alex Jones, you will never go anywhere except be badgered by their own insistence that despite all proofs to the contrary, more guns means keeping the peace! They somehow see the world only in the eyes of their fanatical, religious zealot-like conviction that guns never really kill people, people do. And so providing access to guns to people is not the problem, the problem is preventing people with mental problems from accessing them.

The problem with this argument is that the mental status of people change depending on the circumstances of their lives. Indeed, a perfectly sane, at least from a clinical point of view,  person who has legally acquired and owned gun can out of the blue become temporarily insane as to use that gun to discharge pent-up emotions at someone or somebody for perceived slights, emotional outburts and the like.

Unless the American people, at least those that truly care about societal stability, should ask themselves if allowing the sale of military grade weapons is really necessary in a rich country with a credible police force and efficient government institutions. It is so easy to acquire weapons in America that the Mexican drug-cartels shops for them there and uses its deadly effects on the people of Mexico. So there, more weapons indeed for a better society!