A Culture of Fear and Firepower, Part I - An Introduction

I was recently required to take Active Shooter training at my workplace.  This was a basic training video that I had to go through to prepare for the possibility of an active shooter event at my place of employment, discussing what to do in case the office was attacked by someone with a firearm intent on killing employees.

My wife just a few weeks ago, had to go thru Active Shooter training and training on the dangers of IED's.  She is a school bus driver...

My father worked for 53 years, some in not so good places.  As a veteran of the Korean War,
never once did he carry a firearm as a civilian (at least in the time I knew him), nor did he take or was required to take by his workplace an Active Shooter Training.  Something is very wrong here.

After watching years of public commentaries and discussion on the issue of Gun Control in the United States, I have heard many say that this is not the same world that my father grew up in, which for the most part I would agree, especially in terms of not only the condition of humanity, which one would hope would be better than it had been in those days, but also in the amount of firepower available to the common citizen today.

Bear with me as I start this series with an exercise in rhetoric.  This will be a long series spread out over a long period of time.  This is a complex issue, but it is not an impossible one with no hope of finding a solution.  There are multiple factors that influence where we are today, but one has to ask themselves, is it just as simple as the Second amendment untouchable?  What exactly does the Second Amendment say and how is it interpreted?  What weapons should be allowed to the common citizen for purchase and ownership?  How do today's gun control laws stack up, especially when compared to other developed nations.  What exactly is the cause of what is, in the end, these mass shootings?  I hope to explore many of these questions and hopefully, through my writing, I can come to some form of conclusion as to now why our society is seemingly out of control with these mass shootings.

It must be known that the series of mass shootings in this country over the last 20 years has, in essence, sparked this series.

NOTE: As I have done research over past years on this subject, as well as my love of military history, I have been exposed to multiple viewpoints, opinions, and data.  I have difficulty with a black and white concept of this issue, on the one side that the assumption is that the 2nd amendment is untouchable and singularly addresses the personal possession of military arms as a sort of divinely bestowed right for the person outside of the context of an organized militia to protect a state's sovereignty and that firearms are the sole tool of liberty.  Conversely, I have difficulty also with the confiscation of law-abiding citizen's personal firearms in the wake of the moral panic of mass shootings, as well as the violation of a citizen's right to protect themselves and their family.

In my research I know of at least one developed nation that has available virtually the same firearms that we do in the United States, but yet, has had a mere fraction of the mass shootings and firearm-related homicides that the United States has had since Columbine, even when one addresses the differences in population.  I will address this particular society later in this blog series, but anyone how knows how to search for information will find quickly what nation that is.

Types of firearms
The firearms under discussion here in this blog doesn't include long arms used for sporting and hunting.  Low capacity (in terms of ammunition loaded in the weapon at the time of usage), with a slow or intermittent rate of fire (bolt actions, lever actions, single shots and perhaps even in some cases pump-action shotguns).  These weapons have been in existence for decades, if in some cases centuries before we had mass shooting incidents (unless you consider the massacres of indigenous peoples as mass shootings... for me personally that falls more in the pale of state-sponsored genocide) - (rabbit hole).

Focusing only on Military Grade Firearms
This blog will be dealing primarily with "military-grade firearms" that have the capability to dispense a high volume of firepower per operator of the firearm in a relatively short period of time.  This includes both semi-automatic handguns (i.e. pistols) and long arms (semi-automatic rifles and carbines with high capacity magazines, as a typical example, an assault rifle (referring to high powered military-grade rifles and carbines) equipped with a 30 round or more magazine).

Firearm Legislation and Loopholes
Gun Control Laws need an update, and perhaps an update that is permanent than what was the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.  After its expiration in 2004, the Gun Industry went into full gear with not only productions of high capacity military-grade weaponry, but also marketing campaigns and reinvigorated socio-political ideological constructs supported by many gun advocates, most notably the infamous NRA.

Firearm Industry("The Firearms Industrial Complex")
The Firearms industry has seen a boom in the last 15 to 20 years like no other, with the proliferation of not only semi-automatic handguns but also military-style semi-automatic rifles and carbines.  Along with this we have seen an entire side market erupt with all sorts of attachments to bypass loopholes found in current gun control laws, such as magazine extensions for handguns, laser sites, as well as the ever-telling bump-stock, which turns a legal semi-automatic assault rifles into an almost automatic weapon by clever little pieces of engineering, to skirt past Gun Safety and Control legislation.

Marketing Practices
One must also mention Marketing campaigns directed primarily at males (and to some extent females) for the acquisition of firearms appealing to their sense of masculinity, social justice, including the many ad campaigns, NRA memberships and advocacy, local gun shows and the like.

Firearm Lobbying
NRA lobbying of politicians is at an all-time high and focused primarily on the Republican party, the infamous defender of the Second Amendment.  Not only the NRA, but the many firearms and ammunition manufacturers that help support the misinformation and hope to ensure that new legislation doesn't interfere with profits, company growth, and industry expansion.

Addressing, Acknowledging and Detailing "District of Columbia v. Heller"
In short, this key ruling clarified a citizen's right to protect themselves and their families.  This is an important ruling to research when looking at the Gun Control/Rights debate in this country.

Misinformation through fake news and corrupt media
Not much to say here but is rampant, by much fake news and not so fake news slanted to support the agenda of Gun Advocacy

Blaming the Wrong Issue (Deflection, Diversion, and Misinformation)
Most recently violent media and video games have come under fire (no pun intended) by those who claim the proliferation and easily accessible high capacity military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons, as well as high capacity, military-style semi-automatic handguns are not the issues, but video games itself that is perverting and influencing these mass shooters to their acts of terrorism. (Nevermind there is virtually no conclusive evidence to support this assertion).  Needless to say, these types of games are sold worldwide, yet data and research point uniquely to the United States as the home of the mass shooting.

The Dickey Amendment ("Banning" Gun violence research by stripping Federal funding from the CDC for specific studying of gun violence and its effects on the United States of America)
Something that is not often talked about.  A bill that was vigorously championed by Jay Dickey that in 1996 that "described this amendment as a "ban" on gun violence research by the CDC".  This in itself, as an action, as a piece of legislation requires severe scrutiny as simply because a government agency is prevented funding for researching this epidemic upon our society for fear that it would be used in further gun control advocacy.  It s an implication on the Gun Right socio-political and economic machine that they do not want this information to come out, much less researched, as clearly, within a data-driven, scientific study it would show the true effects of ownership of the weapons I have mentioned above effect upon our current society.

Well, needless to say, this is blog post, that is much longer than I would have wanted, but it deals with a subject I have struggled personally with, because even though I do not own a single firearm, I know of many who do, and vigorously defend their "rights" even as the right to life is denied to others from the recent (last 20 years, approximately) of mass shootings that have left many families without their loved ones.  I must be honest, this is an issue I find myself deeply divided on, as I care deeply for people who defend both sides.

Something will be done, and it will come to pass that at least the loopholes will be closed, if not the entire gun industry be turned upon its head.  For the vast majority are sick of the misinformation, the impotency of the federal and state governments to do anything to prevent it, unless you would like to run down to your local gun store or gun show, buy yourself proper armament so you will not be the next victim (which is just one of the many tactics sold to potential gun owners and a marketing ploy), that is if you can employ the weapon effectively at the time you may or may not be prepared for, and would you even be able to hit the correct target in a tense, life-threatening situation.

What a terrible situation we have put ourselves in.  It is really time to start acting decisively on this issue before more lives are lost.

Thanks for reading.

Look for more updates in the near future dealing with this issue.

Related Links:
Dickey Amendment
District of Columbia v. Heller
Assault Rifle
Handguns
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution