Who will step up to end gun insanity in the U.S.?
Uncertain world urgently needs leadership, Terrence J. Downey says.
O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion. Robert Burns
The insight of Scottish poet Robbie Burns into the hubris that beguiles both individuals and nations is particularly applicable to the pervasive gun culture that defines the United States of America.
Where else in the developed world is to be found such a protracted litany of massacres of innocent citizens perpetrated by fellow citizens; where else is such a ubiquitous bearing of arms by civilians sanctioned and celebrated even in the face of such barbarity and suffering of its own citizens?
Aside from the shattering of loving families and communities, and knowing of the relentless personal grief that too many must carry for a lifetime, the major casualty here is the U.S. itself. From the perspective of a friendly neighbour and ally who appreciates the potential nobility of this uniquely remarkable nation, it’s a great tragedy that the culture of gun violence debases the country, robs it of its moral authority, and inhibits its citizens.
It is this that is at the root of our deep concern and sadness as we witness a U.S. that is seemingly incapable of protecting its own citizens from gun violence on the part of others, this time in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, earlier in Santa Fe, Texas, in Florida and Las Vegas, etc., each only the latest in a seemingly endless series (hundreds already this year!) in too many other communities throughout the U.S.
With the obvious support of U.S. President Donald Trump, the powerful gun lobby continues to intimidate to the point of silence a majority of politicians.
Ironically, it is some of these same politicians, reaping great political advantage by virtue of their celebrated commitment to safeguarding the security of their fellow citizens, especially from any foreign threats both real and imagined, who are seemingly oblivious to the demonstrated certainty that the real threat to everyday citizen security in the U.S. is from within.
The absurdity here is equal to that of the hysterical claims of gun advocates that proponents of even anemic forms of gun control are coming to confiscate all guns, that only by arming everyone will everyone be safe, that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution actually sanctions the bunkum spouted by the NRA.
In its periods of greatness, the U.S. has in each instance summoned the vision and the courage to overcome powerful internal factions, narrow partisanship and the cynical, opportunistic bottom-feeding politicians who thrive on divisions. It is this that has at times inspired its citizens and the nation itself to levels of individual and national achievement that have rightly earned the admiration and respect of the global community.
Canada and other nations looked on in awe during the post- Second World War period onward as the U.S. used its military might, economic dominance and, yes, moral authority to lead postwar reconstruction in other lands, inspire brilliant scientific and technological innovations at home, provide massive foreign aid abroad, and broker complex international peace initiatives.
The uncertain world of
2018 urgently needs a healthy U.S. and the inspired leadership it once provided both internally and internationally, but a nation incapable of addressing its devastating addiction to guns is in no position to lead in any meaningful or sustained way.
In the wake of yet another mass slaughter of innocent citizens, what more will it take for thoughtful men and women in the U.S., particularly the apparently indifferent majority that has been bullied into quiescence, to summon the courage to challenge the prevailing gun culture? What more will it take to inspire a coming together to form a mass movement for some measure of gun sanity that will reignite confidence in the enormous capabilities of the nation that is so evident to those of us looking in?