By Marc Jampole
Charles Blow has written the column I toyed with writing,
dreaded writing and avoided writing.
In “Has the NRA won?” Blow analyzes the evidence that
the United States has become a nation of gun lovers who incorrectly believe
that they’re safer with a gun in the house and in the holster.
Blow tracks the odd phenomenon of rising guns sales after
every mass murder. He blames it on a boomerang effect: Mass murders using guns
get people talking about gun control, which compels gun-toters to buy more for
fear that they won’t be able to when stronger gun laws pass. Not mentioned by
Blow, but a similar phenomenon, is the flurry of state legislation that loosen
gun regulations after each mass murder.
Like many progressives, I have lately consoled myself with
the fact that fewer people than ever own guns in the United States. The University of Chicago's National Opinion
Research Center reports that only 32% of all American households own guns, down
from 50% just three decades ago. Since there is about one gun per person in the
United States (or 50% of all guns owned privately in the entire world!),
that means that those who own guns have more of them.
Thus, for a long time I and others have reasoned that Americans really
do want to rid society of the plague of guns, but that craven politicians
afraid of the financial clout of the National Rifle Association (NRA) have
blocked the passage of laws that make it harder to buy and carry firearms and passed
laws that loosen firearm restrictions. The storyline of the bad NRA corrupting
politicians to obstruct the will of the people has provided reasonable people
with both solace and a large and prominent enemy to battle.
Of course, besides corrupting elected officials, the NRA, helped by the
Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world, has unleashed a propaganda
machine that spouts false information about violent crime increasing and gun
ownership making homes and society safer. The little research out there clearly
demonstrates that an increase in the number of guns owned in any country
increases the number of deaths and injuries from guns. Research also shows that
far more people die each year from friendly fire than are saved by pulling out a
gun against an attacker or criminal. Note that there haven’t been enough of
these surveys done, since Congress passed a law that prevents federal money
being used to fund studies on gun violence. What’s out there, however, shows
that gun ownership in and of itself makes our streets—and homes—more dangerous
places.
The result of this endless barrage of false information and
fearmongering is what Charles Blow lays out in his latest column: A new Pew
Research Center survey showing more Americans now believe that protecting gun
rights is more important than controlling gun ownership and a 2014 Gallup poll
that says that 63% of all Americans believe that having a gun in the home makes
it safer. The second statistic is particularly disturbing because just 15 years
ago in 2000, only 35% of those polled thought a home was safer with a gun in
it. That Gallup poll also showed that 63% of Americans believe crime is on the
rise, even though crime is at a 20-year low. Not many people connect this
decrease in crime with the decrease in households with guns, possibly because
not many people are aware that crime and household ownership of guns are both
down.
If only 32% of households own guns and 63% of Americans think households
are safer with guns, does that mean that gun sales are set to expand? Maybe
yes, maybe no. But it certainly shows that at this point in time, much of our
nation is dedicated to making it easier for people to own and carry guns. Lies
have won over truth.
“The N.R.A. appears to be winning this round,” is how Blow ends his
disturbing article. I think that’s a very optimistic understatement. I’m
thinking the NRA has won not just the round, but the entire game. For the time
being, we are a nation that supports private ownership of guns with little if
any restrictions, certainly less than we place on those who drive automobiles.
That our support is based on lies may enrage and confuse us, but it shouldn’t surprise us. Americans seem to be ever more susceptible to the big lie, be it the lie that guns keep us safe, the lie that humans are not making the Earth too warm too quickly for our own good, or the lie that lowering taxes on the wealthy is the key to creating new jobs and ending economic inequality. In each case, what the liars propose to make things better actually make them worse for most of us.
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