Drizzt
Member
University Wire
January 23, 2003, Thursday
SECTION: COLUMN
LENGTH: 640 words
HEADLINE: Right to bear arms clung to by fearful Americans
BYLINE: By Dale Quinn, Mustang Daily
SOURCE: California Poly State U.
DATELINE: San Luis Obispo, Calif.
BODY:
Last fall, a sniper held the Washington, D.C., area in a grip of fear. One by one he fired at random victims, killing most of them with one shot to the head. The New York Times reported Thursday that the 17-year-old will be tried as an adult, leaving everyone to wonder what can drive a person so young to kill so recklessly.
But the United States is no stranger to tragedy. On April 20, 1999 two high school students brought high-powered guns to school and fired on their classmates, killing 12 students and three teachers before shooting themselves. Again, the American public was left wondering what could drive youth to such madness. In Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine," he attempts to find the root of violence in the United States with specific reference to the Columbine massacre. He begins his documentary by exhibiting the ease with which one can obtain a gun, which exemplifies the glorification of arms in our gun culture. He also reaches deeper and argues that we are a nation of gun-toters because of fear: The fear of our neighbors.
When our forefathers drafted our Constitution, American society was radically different from today. The instability of the new nation, with an expanse of frontier on one side and an irate colonial empire on the other, led the forefathers to include the right to keep and bear arms in our Bill of Rights. Gun rights activists often argue that those who favor gun control defy the Constitution and go against the intent of our forefathers.
Perhaps we need to be reminded what the Second Amendment specifically states: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Gun rights activists often forget about this first clause regarding a well-regulated militia. The reality is that the United States has ensured a secure global position (a ground invasion of the country is not likely) and the threat of the frontier, namely Native Americans, has been eradicated. In other words, the forces that led to the creation of the Second Amendment no longer exist.
So why do Americans cling so diligently to the right to bear arms? Hunters obviously need guns to practice their sport, but many gun owners are not hunters. With the exception of the few who own a gun for the violent overthrow of an unjust government, many own guns for protection from home invasion.
Houses today are modern-day fortresses. Tract houses are built within feet of each other with fences so high that a tall man can not see into his neighbor's yard. Citizens vacate city streets by nightfall. Parents teach their children never to talk to strangers. American culture is afraid. It's afraid that someone they don't know is going to pull a gun on them and steal the meager wealth they've accumulated.
What causes this fear? The United States does have the highest homicide rate of any industrialized nation but, statistically, a person is more likely to be killed by someone he or she knows than by a complete stranger. Many are quick to blame the media for plastering images of violence before us everyday. However, this fear goes deeper; it goes into a culture that clings to its material possessions and fears losing them more than anything else.
Which brings us back to Columbine. What could have possessed Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to commit such a heinous crime? Pure evil, perhaps. Or perhaps their parents are responsible for neglecting their children. Perhaps school administrators should have identified the social structure at their school that isolates certain children. Perhaps the media should not glorify violence and sex. Or perhaps it was their last act of desperation against a culture that didn't accept them and had nothing to offer to them.
January 23, 2003, Thursday
SECTION: COLUMN
LENGTH: 640 words
HEADLINE: Right to bear arms clung to by fearful Americans
BYLINE: By Dale Quinn, Mustang Daily
SOURCE: California Poly State U.
DATELINE: San Luis Obispo, Calif.
BODY:
Last fall, a sniper held the Washington, D.C., area in a grip of fear. One by one he fired at random victims, killing most of them with one shot to the head. The New York Times reported Thursday that the 17-year-old will be tried as an adult, leaving everyone to wonder what can drive a person so young to kill so recklessly.
But the United States is no stranger to tragedy. On April 20, 1999 two high school students brought high-powered guns to school and fired on their classmates, killing 12 students and three teachers before shooting themselves. Again, the American public was left wondering what could drive youth to such madness. In Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine," he attempts to find the root of violence in the United States with specific reference to the Columbine massacre. He begins his documentary by exhibiting the ease with which one can obtain a gun, which exemplifies the glorification of arms in our gun culture. He also reaches deeper and argues that we are a nation of gun-toters because of fear: The fear of our neighbors.
When our forefathers drafted our Constitution, American society was radically different from today. The instability of the new nation, with an expanse of frontier on one side and an irate colonial empire on the other, led the forefathers to include the right to keep and bear arms in our Bill of Rights. Gun rights activists often argue that those who favor gun control defy the Constitution and go against the intent of our forefathers.
Perhaps we need to be reminded what the Second Amendment specifically states: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Gun rights activists often forget about this first clause regarding a well-regulated militia. The reality is that the United States has ensured a secure global position (a ground invasion of the country is not likely) and the threat of the frontier, namely Native Americans, has been eradicated. In other words, the forces that led to the creation of the Second Amendment no longer exist.
So why do Americans cling so diligently to the right to bear arms? Hunters obviously need guns to practice their sport, but many gun owners are not hunters. With the exception of the few who own a gun for the violent overthrow of an unjust government, many own guns for protection from home invasion.
Houses today are modern-day fortresses. Tract houses are built within feet of each other with fences so high that a tall man can not see into his neighbor's yard. Citizens vacate city streets by nightfall. Parents teach their children never to talk to strangers. American culture is afraid. It's afraid that someone they don't know is going to pull a gun on them and steal the meager wealth they've accumulated.
What causes this fear? The United States does have the highest homicide rate of any industrialized nation but, statistically, a person is more likely to be killed by someone he or she knows than by a complete stranger. Many are quick to blame the media for plastering images of violence before us everyday. However, this fear goes deeper; it goes into a culture that clings to its material possessions and fears losing them more than anything else.
Which brings us back to Columbine. What could have possessed Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to commit such a heinous crime? Pure evil, perhaps. Or perhaps their parents are responsible for neglecting their children. Perhaps school administrators should have identified the social structure at their school that isolates certain children. Perhaps the media should not glorify violence and sex. Or perhaps it was their last act of desperation against a culture that didn't accept them and had nothing to offer to them.
