A
few days ago I started writing my post on the book Gun Fight by Adam
Winkler. I was about 100 pages into the book and my post had a lot of
snarky remarks about guns and what is the need? My views on handguns
and weapons haven’t changed, I still dislike them. However, my view on
ownership and gun control has changed.
Winkler
tries hard to be neutral and I believe he succeeds. He drops the
hammer on both ‘gun nuts’ and ‘gun grabbers’. We are both to blame;
rather, the extremists are both to blame. The book explains that by
going to extremes “NO GUNS” or “MORE GUNS” we are creating a society that is
polarized. I don’t like guns, they aren’t for me, but I believe that
people have a right to bear arms for hunting and personal safety. When I use the term gun control, I mean I want semi-automatic military grade
weaponry banned from individual ownership. I want machine guns banned
from individual ownership. You can’t use those weapons hunting, and a
handgun or rifle would still thwart a criminal from harming you and your
family. Guns made for quick rapid fire shooting is not necessary in a
home - my humble opinion.
So
what about my opinion changed? Well, I was once the gun grabber. I
wanted ‘to be like England and ban guns outright.’ You can have a rifle
for hunting...otherwise why do you need a gun? Well, I was idealistic.
In my heart of hearts I want everyone to be fair to each other. I
detest seeing violence. Guns are ingrained in America, and
unfortunately, so is violence.
I
understand the want for a handgun for home protection. You want to
protect your assets, your family, and yourself. That is what the whole
book centers around. The DC gun case that lead the Supreme Court, in
2008, to decided that the Second Amendment does allow for individuals
right to bear arms. Adam Gura found a few plaintiffs that showed a
hardship due to DC’s strict no handgun law.
The
book goes back and forth between the Supreme Court case and the history
of the gun in the US. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to follow
the jumps, but the history helps understand the case. For example, in
the trial there is talk about how our frontiersman (cowboys) needed
their guns to fight outlaws and animals. But in reality, the west wasn’t as wild as
Hollywood makes it out to be. There is well documented cases of
frontier towns having strict gun control. Very strict gun control.
I
don’t want to give too much away, but gun control laws were passed for
various reasons. Winkler breaks down the reasons many of these laws
passed. Racism, Gangsters, and Assassinations are just a few of the
reasons. Whatever the reasons are, people always feel the that the
government did ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’. Again, the polarization of
America.
After
the Sandy Hook tragedy, I decided I wanted to learn more about the
Second Amendment. What I learned was that the Second Amendment is
interpreted many different ways by many different people. There is no
document that states exactly what the framers had in mind when they
created the Bill of Rights. After reading this book, my views may not
have changed much...but they have changed.
