From the Bayou
I grew up in a small, rural town in south Louisiana called Arnaudville. I grew up seeing shotguns and rifles leaning up against almost every corner of the house. They were practically decorations at home. Hunting was a way of life for my family. My father would always tell me “Don’t shoot something you won’t eat.”
Growing up with guns taught me a number of valuable lessons about how to respect firearms and use them properly. I was taught that ‘unloaded guns kill people’ and to always make sure a gun was unloaded before doing anything. I took a hunter’s safety course at a young age, which taught me how to handle firearms in hunting applications. Hunting was always at the forefront of owning firearms. The sport marked the passing of the seasons.
Home defense was secondary in priority to hunting, but it was an inherent part of owning guns. Although my family never experienced a situation in which they had to use a gun for protection, we were able to rest more peacefully at night knowing that we could protect ourselves.
Even beyond the practical purposes of hunting and home defense, owning guns was a pastime and hobby in and of itself. Sometimes my dad and I would drive to the back end of our property and spend an afternoon seeing how many .22 bullets we could put through a Coke can. Those afternoons provided an opportunity for me to hang out with my dad and for us to test our marksmanship skills against each other.
I knew that guns were dangerous, but simple safety and respect taught me to not fear guns. For my family guns were a tool and a hobby, a way of life.
The Current Debate
In light of the shootings at Sandy Hook and other recent gun-related crimes, lawmakers are looking for ways to crack down on gun violence. Some of the proposed measures including strengthening the current background check system and limiting the capacity of magazines to 10 rounds.
Under the current background check system, potential gun buyers can be denied from purchasing a firearm if the system raises a red flag based on their legal history. For example, a person cannot purchase a firearm if they have been convicted of domestic violence or if they have been dishonorably discharged from the military.
Another reason a person can be denied is if they have been “adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution.”
This is one part of the background check system that Obama wants to strengthen. The proposed revision to the current system would include more extensive mental health records to better assess who would be eligible to purchase a gun. However, not all of the new laws and initiatives are based on restrictions. Part of the proposed plan involves better education and treatment regarding mental illnesses, including training teachers to identify early signs of mental illness in their pupils.
Although President Obama has called these solutions “common sense,” there are some who disagree. Greg Ridgeway, deputy director at the National Institute of Justice released a memorandum earlier this year that examines the President’s plan point by point. He compares the proposed solutions to similar initiatives that have already been implemented in other countries such as Australia, and he proposes alternate and additional solutions based on the President’s plan.
In terms of background checks, Ridgeway offers this idea, “Universal checks are insufficient for ensuring that firearm owners remain eligible. Convictions, mental health issues, and restraining orders can develop after the background checks.”
Some disagree with the new proposals more than others. While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association remarked, “With all the HIPPA laws and patient privacy issues, the monsters of Tuscon, Aurora, Newtown — those names will never be in the system. And those killers really are crazy!”
Putting the Puzzle Together
“The biggest issue we have in Savannah is the prevalence of guns,” said Julian Miller, public affairs administrator for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police.
“And the chief has said that many times. He’s pointed out they’re easy to get, everybody has them. They leave them in cars, leave the cars unlocked. They leave them in houses, unsecured. Somebody steals them from the houses. They’re always being stolen.”
President Obama is urging Congress to come to an agreement on these proposals sooner rather than later. This past week, Obama spoke at a press conference saying, “The notion that two months or three months after something as horrific as what happened in Newtown happens and we’ve moved on to other things — that’s not who we are.”
Congress will be voting on the proposals upon returning from Easter recess, and working to set them into law in hopes of decreasing the number of mass shootings and violent crimes.
