Where Next--Day Care? Nursing Homes?

May 14, 2009

Ah, the thought of the smell of the black powder smoke

And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke...

"Last Gunfighter Ballad," by Guy Clark

Federal legislation allowing guns in national parks has passed the Senate. Frankly, it drew me up short. I learned a long time ago not to be surprised by any goofy proposition that oozes out of the congressional swamp, so when I saw it had been sponsored by a bloviating senator from Oklahoma, I took it in stride. However, it was indeed a disappointment to see both Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor--so-called "moderate" senators from Arkansas--had bought into the idea.

To make matters worse, because this bill is actually a rider on President Obama's priority legislation to limit credit card companies' ability to indiscriminately jack up their interest rates, it would be relatively safe from veto if the House of Representatives concurs.

This one defies common sense. Why would anyone want to make the national parks more dangerous than they already are? It should be noted that neither the Department of the Interior nor the National Park Service asked for this legislation. What's more, the park rangers are adamantly opposed to it. The rangers, just like most professional law enforcement officers and policemen, for some strange reason don't like having to face down a disorderly drunk or rowdy speeder who is carrying a loaded sidearm. It is beyond me why no legislature bothers to ask the people who have to keep order in our streets and enforce domestic tranquility why they favor controlling personal weapons as well as the outright banning of assault rifles and similar weapons designed for offensive warfare. But after all, what do they know?

A number of states, Arkansas included, allow gun owners to carry a concealed weapon. Some allow them in bars and other public gathering places. I was horrified earlier this year to read of the serious proposal introduced in the Arkansas General Assembly that would have allowed concealed handguns in church services. It got a lot of support, believe it or not, from some preachers, as well as from some of their congregants, before it died in committee. From the early days of the Slow Train Through Arkansas jokes, and the corn pone humor of radio personalities Bob Burns, Lum and Abner, Arkansas has had a reputation--earned as often as unearned--for being a bit backward. Such mythical lore is damaging enough without adding factual reinforcement.

It would seem that there is a shortage of political will to do anything that would gain the disfavor of that bunch of bullies, the National Rifle Association. The NRA has mastered the art of relentless attempts to crush any opponent who does not swear fealty to the Gun God. NRA has shamelessly promoted its own narrow views of the so-called "right to bear arms" referred to in the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Most people never even notice the language that links the possession of arms to the right of the people to have a "well-regulated militia." My dictionary defines a "militia" as a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency, or a body of citizens organized for military service. In the United States, that means the National Guard or the Reserves. It is not, I repeat, not intended to sanction armed bands of vigilantes, self-appointed posses or radical right-wingnut crazies like the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh to take the law into their own hands.

What's that? You keep your gun for hunting and self-defense? Fine. Do you need it in church or at the grocery store? Has the country become that dangerous? Perhaps in some places, but for most of this land, I think not. Ah, but do I hear you saying that if things get too bad you just might want to join with your neighbors and take back your country from those dangerous tax-and-spend socialistic atheists in Washington? Careful there, Dude--we fought a war over that question and the rebels lost.

Now lest you think this is a screed against owning a gun, it most certainly is not. There is absolutely nothing wrong with individuals having guns for hunting, target shooting or even self-defense, as long as they have been adequately trained on how to use them, properly maintain them and secure them from access by children or other unauthorized personnel, and, as long as every gun and its ballistics pattern are registered...

Americans love their cars and their guns, no matter how dangerous they are. Soon we may just get guns in all the parks, guns in the churches, guns in the nightclubs, and maybe guns in nursing homes and day care centers. I hope if this happens that you will feel safer. Speaking for myself, as one who has no intention of carrying a weapon, concealed or otherwise, I will feel far less so.

Charlie Crow © May 15, 2009