Guns and roses

The  debate on US gun culture rages on following the latest shooting in Colorado at a movie screening of Batman. The gun lobbyists in America will stand ever firm on their policy of allowing every citizen the right to a peaceful night's sleep with a gun under their pillow.  Guns kill and maim. Guns disregard human rights. Guns do not protect. Guns create fatalities.

In truth, guns do none of these things since they are inanimate objects. A human with a gun is like a monkey with a razor blade; in fact the monkey has the advantage in that it doesn’t try to justify why he has a razor blade and why he feels the need to harm his fellow monkey.

It is mostly men who are voceiferous on the subject of whether there should or should not be guns on our streets. Most gun lobbies are made up of male members. It is a club where their egos can be massaged. 

Yes, you are!

A gun is representative of a similar sort of power they give to a particular part of their anatomy. There’s a primeval instinct in men (and some women) that fuels their need to pillage and conquer. From medieval to modern times, men have ruled by the sword; they have lived and died in its name. The mark of man in times of yore was down to whatever he possessed in his sheath and perhaps underneath it too.

Although the world has progressed and we see more men, then ever before, in touch with their feminine side there are still areas that are far from improved. Rape is still a hate crime where men use their vital parts to violate a woman’s dignity. The latest shooting in Colorado reveals that indiscriminate killings goes on. At least, in the days of the Wild West , guns were used to slay your enemies – the baddies and the man who stole your woman.

Rose for remembrance

Gun crime is now in its most advanced stage as almost every US citizen can gain access to one. It’s called “self-protection” so that everyone’s aware there’s an enemy out there who could strike anytime. 

Your neighbor, friend, school teacher, mail man, drop-out, homeless person is a threat. Was establishing a culture of fear part of the Great Amercian Dream?

I’m not a US citizen. I live in a densely populated city  with high crime figures but very few gun related incidents. In my part of the world, guns are used even by the criminal element, as you might say, “responsibly”(!!) -  underworld gangs with grudges against their counterparts.

I personally don’t know anyone who owns a gun or would want to.  Guns are too macho for me and I’ve nothing to prove or protect, except for my sanity! I’ve heard of some gun ownership  but only when a young member of the family of a gun owner has shot himself during a bout of depression. My experience is of a gun being turned inward rather than outward.

Rose bed

When faced with the “enemy” in the form of an intruder….would I shoot them? This is not an easy question for a pacifist. I don’t believe that violence solves anything. Shooting my perpetrator will bring temporary safety but it would have to be as a last resort when there was the threat of serious harm or violation. 

Blood rose

Killing anyone in self-defence or otherwise leaves a bad taste in the mouth of society. If we can’t love our enemies then at least we must try to avoid them but not kill them.

American society is tough. It puts people on Death Row, some of them are there for, what might be classed as minor misdemeanours – stealing a pizza. Some are innocent and some guilty and need to pay for their crimes – but not with their life.

If America were to plant a rose bush for every gun-related homicide then it would be the land of roses. An over-powering fragrance would waft across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Indeed, rose oil might have been its greatest export. The legacy of gun crime is that roses now lay scattered across the tombstones of American citizens in Aurora, Colorado and elsewhere.

Un-natural!

Men and metal are a lethal mix. Men must stop playing war games – in the real world as much as the virtual world. Violent video games lead to disturbance of the human mind and spirit. James Holmes, the Colorado killer, was no drop out or brought up in poverty or the product of a broken home. But he was an introvert and spent alot of time in front of a screen – playing video games. I have outlawed them in my home and established peace . Why can’t AmerIca – Land of the Free – do the same?

Why do we not hear about teenage girls or young women going on shooting sprees or being negatively influenced by video games? Something inherent in feminine nature is life-affirming and, by the same token, a baser instinct in the masculine psyche seeks to destroy. There are times when women have resorted to extreme violence but that is usually when all attempts at peaceful negotiation have failed.

I have a dream....let it become a reality

Change must come to America as it did in the shape of Barack Obama. He’s laying down the foundations for state sponsored healthcare and restricting the purchase of guns could be the most healthful thing the US government can do. It's a tough call and he needs to stay in the job for a second term. Let’s keep lovers of life living and ban the sale of arms from sports shops and drug stores.

A rose for your thoughts?