We're all to blame for Newtown: Column
- Why can%27t gun responsibility be a communal activity%3F Take it on.
- Cultural acceptability is the most powerful form of %27regulation%27 the world has ever known.
- And once the process starts%2C we never go back.
The news out of Newtown is once again a punch in the gut and heart. Adam Lanza's mother planned on giving her son money for a shiny new gun for Christmas, had he not chosen to annihilate her, 20 innocent children and 6 educators on December 14th. What in God's name made her think that guns were a good choice for her emotionally disturbed son? We all did. The friend who didn't tell her strongly enough that mental illness and guns are a bad combination. The community's gun owners who knew the Lanzas. The culture we all helped to create that let her think this was OK.
Gun organizations and politicians are fond of saying 'they' have to do something about mental health, but rarely use the term 'I' in connection with this responsibility. It is not ethically credible to insist on a lack of government regulation, but then shirk the responsibility of self-regulation. We are all morally responsible for the guns we purchase, and the subsequent people we give our guns to; as well as the people in our houses where our guns are kept. And why not also to out fellow gun owners, if their behavior puts them and others in harm's way?
Don't you drive your friends home when they have had too much to drink? Maybe 30 years ago that would have been an insult, but today it shows you care. Why can't gun responsibility be a communal activity? Take it on.
And If mental illness is such a strong contributor to gun violence, as the NRA seems to say so often, then the responsibility for addressing this issue should lie first and foremost with people close to the mentally ill individual, not the government. You can't ask the government to stay out of your stuff, and then point the finger of responsibility at others.
Several Columbine students knew about the killers' 'hit list' well before that fateful day. Someone always knows. They knew violence was coming at Columbine.
They knew Adam Lanza had no business having guns. And every day we see and ignore loaded guns kept in kitchen cabinets, or the ammunition that the Lanza's stored in peanut canisters. Ask your children about the kids who know how to get into the gun safe as easily as the cabinet where dad keeps the scotch.
Why this allegiance to gun safety silence? Is it that the government can't tell me what to do, and so I won't tell other gun owners what to do? How did the atmosphere become so casual and easy? Facebook posts make fun of dangerous gun hijinks and people laugh.
It reminds me of an old joke from college: "I have absolutely no idea how my car got into my driveway last night." It was funny then, but not today. Driving sober has been normalized and drunk driving is culturally stigmatized. Because a car, like a gun, is a dangerous piece of technology.
This fact is recognized and supported by most citizens; by organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, but also by the manufacturers of alcoholic products who though far from perfect, do spend their own money to inform their customers that drunk driving won't be tolerated. They don't worry much about others regulating or 'controlling' them, and they don't have to endlessly remind us of the laws on the books that allow us to drink alcohol, because they take on the responsibility to regulate themselves.
In 2013, 'responsible drinking' is our culture. And cultural acceptability is the most powerful form of 'regulation' the world has ever known.
Granted, there are many programs that educate gun owners on how to safely use their weapons. And there is the Eddie Eagle video that the NRA puts out to inform 6-year-olds to stay away from guns. But the controversial questions like are you really safer with a gun in the house ? (all the research says no) are studiously avoided because they would likely repress gun sales. So 'safety' is dealt with 'strategically.' That's morally irresponsible.
It's not about left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican, or gun owner vs. non gun owner. The only distinction that counts is if you are OK with over 31,000 Americans dying each year from gun violence -- or not. And if you are not OK with it, are you going to take on the responsibility of doing something about it?
Gun owners can have the most impact on saving lives by adopting a stricter code of behavior, and not looking the other way when fellow gun owners behave irresponsibly. But we can all impact culture. Ask about guns in the house before you send your kids over to play. Make sure your friends who own guns keep them locked and unloaded. Moral conscience must replace passivity.
And once the process starts, we never go back. There is a moment when we reach a point of no return and change is inevitable. Concord and the American Revolution, Birmingham and the civil rights movement, Sandy Hook and a non-gun violent America. The America of December 13th is gone forever. The America of December 15th will still have guns, but the culture that went with them will be radically different.
Rebecca and Jon Bond are the co-founders of Evolve, a new organization whose goal is to change the cultural norms of gun ownership.
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