PRESIDENT George W. Bush and his officials are worried sick about foreign terrorists decimating the US population through such plots as the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center twin towers, a nuclear missile attack from North Korea, and others still being hatched in the minds of Osama bin Laden-types. But the people doing the most decimation of the American population are Americans themselves -- the psychos, wackos and weirdos that infest American society. In less than two weeks this year (from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9), four school shootings left dozens of students dead or wounded.
Why is it so easy for wacko Americans to kill fellow Americans? Because of the proliferation of guns. Anybody can go to a gun store and buy guns, from handguns to assault rifles. Responsible officials have tried to stop the mayhem many times by instituting gun control laws, but gun manufacturers and the National Rifle and Pistol Association successfully lobbied against gun control each time. "The right to bear arms" is guaranteed by the Constitution, they argue.
And with a reason. The founding fathers put that guarantee there because America was won through the use of guns -- from the days of the pioneers, through the War for Independence, the Civil War down to the taming of the West and the Indian wars.
But now the United States is the richest and most modern nation in the world, yet many of its modern cities look as if they were still in the Wild Wild West. A report by Reuters the other day said that more than 30,000 Americans die from gunshot wounds every year -- an average of 82 each day -- through murder, suicide and accidents. That's more than the death rate during the days of the gunfighters in the Wild West or of Al Capone and other mobsters.
Because of the recent school shootings, the White House hastily called a Conference on School Safety. But paradoxically, the word "gun" was not mentioned during the whole conference, the story said. It was a teenager who pointed out that it was easy access to high-powered guns that was causing so many deaths. And such was the fear of pro-gun lobbyists of even the top American leaders that although President Bush and wife Laura Bush attended the conference, both avoided mentioning guns.
"How is it even possible to have a discussion about preventing school shootings without talking about guns?" asked a spokesman of Violence Policy Center.
Why am I writing about guns in the hands of Americans? That's none of my business, but I'm writing about it just the same because we are slowly drifting into the same dangerous situation. The number of guns, legal and illegal, in the hands of Filipino wackos, is increasing dramatically, despite the tireless efforts of Nandy Pacheco and his (now tiring) Gunless Society. As a result, more and more Filipinos -- not only journalists and militants, but also ordinary motorists just wanting to go somewhere – go to the Great Beyond prematurely because a trigger-happy wacko happened to be nearby.
Many of these lethal weapons come from American gun manufacturers, a whole slew of which churn out their weapons from the states of the US eastern seaboard, especially Connecticut, which is ironically home to that famous fount of learning, Yale University. They come to the Philippines either legally, through our own gun stores, or illegally, through smuggling, from our own military and police, and from the Christian and Muslim rebels.
Possession of a gun sometimes does strange things to some Filipinos. They become cocky, aggressive, brave, abusive and irresponsible and begin to think that, like God, they have the power of life and death over others. Only later, when they are already in prison, do they realize the folly of their ways. How many once-upright citizens are now languishing behind bars and regretting that they even came close to a gun and how one
irresponsible moment during a quarrel for a parking space in a cemetery, or a traffic altercation, or a misplaced stare in a nightclub, destroyed their whole future? If they could live life all over again, I am sure they won't ever look at a gun again.
But many more lust to have that feeling of power by possessing guns. And the situation has come to a point that it is now dangerous to drive along the highways and overtake other vehicles. More and more wackos with guns now drive and if you are unlucky enough to overtake one such driver, he could send you to kingdom come with a bullet in the head.
Recently, Casiano Navarro of the Office of the Press Secretary met such a driver on the Cavite Coastal Road. Navarro related in his complaint to Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla of the NCR Police Office, that as he was driving on the Coastal Road on the morning of Oct. 6. 2006, he overtook several vehicles, including an off-white Ford Everest with plate number ZBP-941. As they were nearing the teller's booth, the driver of the Everest pulled a gun on him "after an exchange of invectives."
"He pointed the gun at me but did not fire," Navarro said. "Then, the unidentified lady who was seated beside him grappled with him for the gun. Then they drove off."
He was able to trace the ownership of the Everest but not the identity of the driver although he observed that the "big fellow" had a prominent tattoo below his left shoulder (he was wearing a sleeveless undershirt). "His haircut gave me the impression that he may be a cop or a military man," he reported.
It should not be difficult to find the gun-toter and file charges against him.
America is like the wild west? And he thinks the Philippines are headed in the same direction? Is it not already there?
I wonder what he thinks about the tens of thousands of insurgents and bandits running amok in his country? I'll take the "wild west" over a "war zone" anytime.
Why do sheep, with next to zero means to protect themselves always, always bleat so loud as to draw more attention to themselves, than any other creature under the blue skies?
