Gun Control – Part 1: No Discernment Allowed

One of the most distinctive aspects of our relativistic, progressive culture is its inability to make distinctions. We are either unable or afraid to distinguish between good & bad (except for the idea that distinguishing them is bad), male & female, disagreement & intolerance, ideas & identity, discipline & abuse, and defense & aggression. This gross lack of discernment skills comes home to roost when tragic events such as senseless, random shootings occur. Although it is these situations in which we need the most clarity, knee-jerk political correctness only creates a smokescreen.

Predictable smasmodic cries for gun control from the political Left assure us that the mantra of never letting a “serious crisis go to waste” (thanks Rahm Emanuel) is still in vogue. And right on cue Hollywood headliners who couldn’t summon a thimble-full of discernment if it were written into their scripts, dutifully dramatize each demagogic syllable uttered by anti-gun policy makers. Both groups blame violence on inanimate objects, e.g. guns (“The 2nd Amendment is outdated!”) while at the same time resisting any criticism of media and entertainment (“The 1st Amendment is sacred!”) that glorify their use. Although their current argument is for limiting automatic weapon ownership, this is a certain foot in the door toward further limitations on firearm usage in general – the true wish of gun control advocates for years.

In a new video, Hollywood actors (some of whom star in graphically violent films) demand an end to gun violence by reciting a list of recent shootings. Among them is “Fort Hood.” Keep in mind that Fort Hood is a military base in which guns are endemic (although Hassan attacked an area of the base in which guns were off limits); Hassan screamed his loyalty to Allah during the shooting; and the Left still considers this event “workplace violence” instead of an obvious act of terror. I suppose discernment-needy Hollywood believes that the army should prohibit automatic weapons also? Although the motivations and context of the two shootings are completely different, in the eyes of the Left they are the same because the same inanimate object was the cause in both.

Think about that for a second. It’s like saying that the paper and ink of Mein Kampf is the cause of crimes against humanity rather than Hitler’s twisted ideas conveyed by these materials. Inanimate objects such as guns don’t “do” anything unless a motivated mind puts them to use. It is the condition of the mind and the information it consumes that steers one’s actions. Our culture indulges in increasingly graphic and perverse entertainment and sensory stimulation yet we’re shocked when something resembling it occurs in real life.

Let me make an appeal to one of those self-evident, who’s-buried-in-Grant’s-tomb observations that seem lost on progressives:  Criminals don’t follow laws, so gun control laws have zero prohibitive effect on them. Disarming responsible, licensed, law abiding citizens only makes a criminal’s life easier. Random shooters only stop their rampage when a gun is aimed at them. Not sure why that’s so difficult.

More in Part 2.