Guns Under Fire

I've recently had a few discussions on the topic of Gun Control.  There is a particular argument that control opponents use time and again, and frankly it doesn't actually help their cause.  I am writing this blog entry specifically to address that argument.

We've all seen it and heard it.  It comes in so many different forms and ways, but it really boils down to the same argument.  It is the idea that guns don't need special laws to address their use simply because anything can be made into a weapon.  There is a truth to the idea.  Since our ancestors first used rocks as tools, we've known that anything around us can be used as a weapon.  But that doesn't make it a valid point.  Guns are unique in their place as weapons, for several reasons.  They are the single most effective weapon ever made.

To begin with, there are very few objects and machines that are made with lethal intentions.  Guns are made and designed to kill.  Any other use is really an emulation or extension of that purpose.  Most other weapons are made from re-purposing objects that already exist for other reasons.

There are weapons which you could use to do more damage and kill more people. Explosives are easy to make, if you understand chemistry.  They do a lot of damage and can easily kill a large number of people.  But explosives have to be made and stored, which is not easy depending on what kind a person chooses to use.  They also need specific conditions to be set off properly.  They're more effective when they are placed with a plan and intention in mind.  A gun doesn't require a plan or intention.  Once loaded, it is lethal.  It can be adjusted easily and quickly to accommodate changes in the situation.

A motor vehicle of some kind is also fairly destructive.  Tapping someone with your bumper is assault with a deadly weapon, if they're inclined to press charges.  But anyone who has had trouble parallel parking knows that cars aren't exactly the most precise tool.  And this problem becomes more extensive with the more power that you put into it.  It should also be noted that a vehicle is easy to disable. You need only puncture the tires or damage one of a number of systems that sustain the motor.

So we know that to go bigger than a gun, the weapons are less precise.  So what about becoming less sophisticated?  We could stab or bludgeon our intended victims.  And any object will do to this extent, as long as we can pick it up.  However, there are two facts that set these kinds of weapons apart from guns.

Bludgeoning or stabbing someone requires more effort than simply shooting them.  Vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, and brain, are all protected by bone and cartilage, with very few weak points.  To actually kill a person, one has to generate enough force to bypass or break those protective structures.  In a gun, this force comes from the explosive force of the gun powder, but with other weapons, it comes from the physical effort of the wielder.  It takes less energy and exertion to kill with a gun than with alternative weapons.

Bludgeoning and stabbing are considered intimate crimes.  The reason is that you have to be up close and personal to do it.  You have to see, hear, feel and even smell your victim as you kill them.  You will likely get their blood on you.  Killing with a gun can be done at a distance, is in fact more effective at a distance.  You don't have to acknowledge that your victim is human, or alive.

There is one last factor that needs to be addressed.  It's not about guns themselves but about human nature.  Whenever a mass killing of any kind happens we also bring up and discuss mental illness.  Now, believe me, mental illness is always a worth while discussion when we bring up making the world a better place.  The problem is, how many mass murderers have a history or a predisposition to mental illness?

Every day, we are all subject to forces and situations that cloud our judgment and cause us to engage in erratic, irrational behavior.  Anger, stress, depression, paranoia, desperation   None of us are immune.  To think otherwise is arrogance at best, narcissism at worst.  Not everyone will snap.  Most people don't.  It is entirely wrong to assume that the people who turn to mass murder are somehow insane or deficient.  Even the best of us have the furthest to fall.  And if we do, we will reach for the most powerful, efficient means to reach our ends.  If our intentions are violent, that means a gun.