America is the most weaponized nation domestically and internationally in the entire world. Our military orders so many weapons that the war industries can hardly keep up with the demand. America has never stopped being its own “Wild West.” Yet, despite domestic gun violence and deaths reaching epidemic proportions, Congress remains chained to the gun and ammunition industries and their lobbyist, the National Rifle Association (NRA). The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is invariably trotted out to defend their position even though this amendment was written to protect the framers should the masses revolt. The NRA even went so far as to prevent Congress from even authorizing studies of ways to reduce gun violence until 2022 when “the floodgates were opened” making funds available for such studies. [efn_note]Hauck, G. “The NRA Helped Make it Hard to Study Gun Violence for Decades. Now the Floodgates are Open”, USA Today, July 26, 2022.[/efn_note]
Silly Science
What has followed so far and not at all unexpectedly by me is a series of charades purporting to be serious studies of the issue. For instance, $2.25 million has been awarded to the University of Michigan to determine whether turning vacant lots into green spaces, such as community gardens, pocket parks or green infrastructure, will reduce firearm violence in Detroit! [efn_note]”Study to Look at Gardens to Reduce Violent Crime”, Bearing Arms, July 28, 2022.[/efn_note] Such a farce is totally expected at least by me from bureaucrats and naïve and/or coopted academicians none of whom would know or want a practical and equitable solution if it walked into their offices.
Aside from such silly science, this year the U.S. government enacted a law that funds some mostly tangential measures such as crisis intervention programs. [efn_note]Tucker, E. These are the Gun Control Laws Passed in 2022 So Far. CNN, July 30, 2022.[/efn_note] A few States have taken matters into their own hands. California, for instance, is ranked the top state in the nation for gun safety in 2021, yet this state has been plagued with recent mass killings from guns. [efn_note]Kiefer, F. and Roll, N. “California has the Most Gun-Control Laws in the US. Do They Work?” Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 2021.[/efn_note]
A practical measure for curbing random shootings occurred to me after I read about the case of a shopper in a mall who was legitimately carrying a gun. He shot and killed a man who had already killed three shoppers. He was lauded by the local police. [efn_note]Wilkinsin, K. “Police laud the actions of a man who killed a shooter at an Indiana mall”, NPR, July 18, 2023.[/efn_note] The obvious solution, at least obvious to me, to preventing or at least reducing such incidents is to deputize people who have legal gun permits, train them to be skilled marksmen/women and dispatch to shopping malls, theatres, and wherever else that illegal gun slingers may haunt. Smacks of the Wild West, I know, but America long ago become the Wild Nation domestically and the greatest threat to world peace internationally.
In Closing
A public opinion poll shows that Americans are worried about guns and gun control. [efn_note]Gallop. “Most Important Problem“, 2023.[/efn_note] Readers, how worried are you when you visit shopping malls, theatres, or other public places if you go there at all? If you stay home bound, what does that say about your freedom and your “liberty quotient?” It is my ratio for showing how much freedom anyone has compared to a lack of freedom.
Have you ever rallied with other Americans or thought about doing so to overturn the constant war profiteering and subjugation of the powerless by the powerful? Even if you may have done so — and if so, Bravo to you! — please consider reading my book that proposes a comprehensive strategy for peacefully rendering the power elite powerless and creating a true democracy with good standard of living for every American. [efn_note]Brumback, G.B. Achilles Heel of Public Enemy No. 1, KDP Publishing, 2021.[/efn_note]
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