Guns. Okay, Let's Talk About It.

I was recently shown a graph that depicts the spike of news attention given to the topic of gun control specifically after a traumatic shooting spree. Not long after the matter is messily devoured by every media outlet, this particular graph showed that talk on gun control trailed off to lower and lower degrees after initially hitting higher and higher spikes. The higher the spike in news attention at the start, the lower it would drop off in future months. Interestingly, the person citing this graph was using it to point out their belief in the need to continue addressing the issue. I tend to lean toward the notion that in actuality, the over sensationalized and tainted media outlets were likely adversely affecting the response of the public. The more reporters threw dire, heart-wrenching stories in our faces in hopes to gain viewers and raise conflict, the more the public shut down. Unfortunately, the more attention the news put towards gun control while yet more evil people responded by finding ways to kill despite it all, the more doubtful and wittingly ignorant we have become to the real disease at hand. It seems clear to me that we are putting our focus in the wrong direction when we talk about guns. We are focusing on band aids--band aids that won't even stick--instead of real cures. We are looking for anyone to blame. We are pointing our fingers in every direction to avoid touching on the subjects that really strike a nerve. But I am getting ahead of myself.

With the current push for gun control, I would like to share my overall views in this matter. After having had this conversation recently with an old colleague, I think sharing that discussion may be the best way to get across how I feel exactly. So may you join the conversation with me. The real one. The one we need to be having, not the one we keep falling back on.


Jim: 
"Well, rather than talking about gun reform, which I do believe needs to continue as a meaningful debate, you're right, news outlets blast us with superficial coverage of a story repeatedly. We stop talking about the issue because it's just sizzle and no meat. While I do believe there should be something done about our nation's infatuation with machines designed to kill other people (what else would you need 30 rounds in a rifle for?), I believe the real issue is why is this OUR problem? A lot of people have heard the talking point that Americans have been killed in gun-related violence in the US more than they have in all of the wars we've had put together. And this one is true! We're trying to stem the proliferation of nuclear arms, but we're flooding our streets with weapons of minor destruction and engaging in a civil war of attrition in the name of the 2nd Amendment. The Constitution is a rule of law, not THE law, right? What happened to respect for human life?"

My response: 
"Great points. I think you hit on something that can also show where some of the confusion lies...
 
First I have to point out that I am not handy with guns or gun knowledge for that matter. I have only used a couple of guns in my life, and I couldn't tell you what types they even were. But I have tried to wrap my head around the situation anyway. If people who do not use guns or have considerable knowledge of them are going to define terms, how can they really decipher if a 30 round rifle is necessarily a tool for murdering people? While I may not be proficient with guns, my handful of army friends, who definitively know their way around a gun, and my friends who are experienced hunters have given me a couple of run downs that have given some clarity on the matter. 

First, as you may or not already know, an assault rifle doesn't work like a machine gun in the fact that it is only semi-automatic and still only shoots one bullet per time the trigger is pulled. It won't shoot any faster than a person can pull the trigger. 

Second, due to cosmetic definitions, not crime associated differences, the comparisons of assault rifles to military rifles are formed. The term "assault" rifle is a loose term at best. The top crime guns are hardly discussed at the level these misleadingly termed "assault" rifles are. Instead many of the guns that are used as tools by experienced and law-abiding gun handlers are being targeted. And really to what avail? The types of petty crimes that have come to define large portions of our own generation and the very streets of our nation's most crime filled cities ought to be just as devastating to our country as any of the crimes that are committed in these sorts of outbreaks. The unfortunate reality is that criminals are never going to pay heed to laws for gun owners. The laws already in place for gun owners are bypassed by criminals.

I am open to new ideas on reforming the way guns are handled. I personally think if we all knew how to handle a gun, accidental deaths would be diminished greatly. But making the many experienced gun owners work harder to attain guns legally, while many non-experienced gun owners who are not opposed to breaking any number of new or old laws, just doesn't seem to touch the problem on any real level.
 
Like I said at the beginning, I am no expert when it comes to handling guns or gun factoids. But I have had a gun pointed at me. And I can tell you two things. It wasn't by someone who owned the gun legally and it wasn't an "assault" rifle. It was a hand gun. The person who held it also carried other illegal substances. And if he wanted to shoot me, he certainly wasn't far from doing so. Keeping a gun out of his hands isn't something that legislation can handle. It just isn't. With or without the gun, a violent, malicious person will do violent, malicious things. And the same goes for others like him. People with broken lives trying to make up for the brokenness any way they can. Bullies. And what are bullies if not, at some level, victims? They don't get to play the victim, it's just the nature of the beast when you look at the state of things. The foundation is off kilter with our youth. It's been off. And we're not dealing so much with broken laws anymore as we are dealing with very broken people. 

We teach convenience and disrespect. We devalue the standard and limits given to us in our Constitution. We have teachers that don't love what they do, don't love their students, and don't love truth. We have parents that are completely removed from their children's lives. We have every form of media swarming our kids everyday. We have movie heroes depicting violence without cause and living life without justice, while our real heroes fighting wars and standing for justice are diminished as our leaders cut their funds time and time again. And what do they cut their funds for? To put more towards the broken education system filled with the broken teachers! Asking anyone to look at gun control is just a distraction from the real disease of our country. It's a finger of blame to avoid the responsibility we ought to be addressing. We're fighting for an illusion of protection from guns and bad guys, rather than fighting to rebuild the brokenness of our society. 
 
You mentioned the respect for human life? Well let's really look at that.
The big issue isn't how an individual chooses to kill masses of people, rather the notion of why? If we look at the problem like a disease, we can see that continuously manipulating and converging and altering laws and legislation is only going to tease out the symptoms of this disease. And I use the phrase 'tease out' rather than 'treat' for if we were even looking at something that might 'treat' the symptoms of this disease, then we'd be looking at, at least a little, improvement. But I don't think we are even allowing for that, since the side effects of this sort of 'treatment' end up confounding the issues and also do not keep killers from killing. 

Instead, we need to be looking for a cure for the disease. No amount of gun control really helps in this area of the discussion. And how could it? As simple minded as this may sound, the cure is in parents loving and knowing their children. The cure is in communities uniting to uplift broken homes. The cure is in charitable churches that make welfare a non-issue. The cure is in teachers that pour into lives, not test scores. The cure is everywhere we are not looking. It's everywhere we do not discuss.
 
So should we talk about gun control some more? I'll be happy to. But only if the real discussion on hearth and home are not being held at bay. Only if we do not continue fooling ourselves that legislative government can save lives. It can't. Even with the best of intentions, the outreaching arms of legislative government will only save lives on paper. And if we continue to turn to government to save lives, then when will parents pick up the gauntlet? When will families guard up the hearts of their loved ones? When will we ever see a real change? The answer is, we won't."

Beauty from Ashes

I remember how much I loved my baby doll when I was little. Now I wasn't always so careful with her. Sometimes I'd go for months without playing with her. Sometimes I would leave her out for my brother, Spencer, to get a hold of her. But when I was playing pretend with her, she was real to me. She had feelings. I would let her sleep on my pillow, and I'd scoot to the edge of my bed to keep from rolling over on her. I would hold her so carefully in my arms. I named her Ruth after my favorite Bible character. I would tell her I'm sorry for letting Spencer squish her plastic face. I wanted things to be perfect. Yet I knew, even then, that something was wrong. I knew that when I got bored with the game, I'd toss her aside again. I knew that I'd leave her somewhere or that Spencer would draw on her or that she would fall behind the bed, and that I would not be able to stop it all from happening. So I loved her dearly and all-the-more when I played pretend because I knew it was pretend. It wouldn't last.

When I look at life, I feel much of the same bitter sweet ache. I look at my family and my friends. I look at myself and my hopes. It's a crushing thought when you see that everything is broken. It's all broken. None of it is right. Not quite. Sometimes, not at all. I think about the times I'd look at my doll remorsefully, wanting to keep things perfect like how they were in my pretend world--where I'd rock her and imagine silly stories of her playing football when she got older--but knowing that it all just wasn't so.

I want to protect those I love from the evils of this world. Yet I look around and see that not only does it pour in from every electronic screen and speaker, it also comes from the mouths of friends and family. It comes from my very own choices and actions. It comes from our own mothers and fathers. It's devastating. I think, "Oh God, it is not supposed to be like this! It's all gotten so messed up!"
What am I talking about?
The hate that pours in from each association or political group that just cannot allow room for justice or grace.
The people who lie to your face, make you feel some fake version of love, then steal it away right when you chose to believe in it.
The parents who promise their children that forever means forever, then decide like temperamental adolescents to follow paths of destruction.
The children who mock their history and undercut their parents.
The fathers who fail to be fathers, and the mothers who fail to be mothers.
The husbands who fail to be husbands, and the wives who fail to be wives.
The dreams that hover overhead like clouds and, every time you get close, evaporate into a mist.
The sicknesses and diseases that rip through the lives of families and friends like unforeseen natural disasters.
The natural disasters that redefine livelihoods.
The friends that build you up and tear you down.
The people you know best who turn out to be strangers.
The people who kill intentionally with malice at heart.
The people who kill ignorantly with convenience at heart.
The people who let evil live, with both intention and with ignorance!
The lives, all the lives we've lost.
The love that was supposed to be waiting at the other end of hardship.
The stupidity of so-called leaders.
The weakness of so-called followers.
And oh the deceit, frailty, and wickedness that spawns in my own heart.

I look at this broken, starving world aching for truth and love and hope and I cry, "Oh God! It's broken! We've messed it up, God! It's just not supposed to be like this!"

It hurts. And I weep, not just for the burden I carry, but for the burdens I cannot take away from others.

But then, redemption.

His grace covers all. It washes the dirtied hands of criminals. It cleanses the residue upon our tear-stained cheeks. It lifts our heads. It sounds triumphantly in a newborn's laugh. It shakes the earth when a faithful man kisses his wife on her head. It echoes proudly when one man takes care of another man's meal before serving himself. So resplendent is His grace when someone looks to their friend and asks for forgiveness. It rattles the gates of hell when truth is fought for, despite the cost. How good is our God who sustains us?

Weakness taunts us. But God redeems the weak, so that He may be praised. Stupidity trips us up. But God heals the broken after they fall, so they can be better prepared to lead. Loved ones lie to us. But God offers discernment to lead us to the truth, so that we may better know that the truth has been tested and not found wanting. Things fall apart. But God rebuilds you in the ashes of disaster. He strengthens you. He adds new armor to your suit after every weak spot is discovered. He builds you up so that His kingdom can be built up. He builds you up so that true beauty can be brought forth. We are the beauty from the ashes. Always. His grace is sufficient.

Now it's true. Nothing is right. That bitter sweet ache I would get when playing pretend with my baby doll remains with me as I imagine the futures of my youngest siblings or the lot of generations even further down the line. Yet His grace is sufficient. And while we may just be doing what we can to create our own versions of home here on earth, there will be a day when perfection comes and the imperfect will disappear. His grace was poured out, and justice is not far behind. So let us continue to seek truth, both in word and deed. Let us fight for justice, no matter the cost. Let us accept the waves of His mercy, for His grace is enough.