Trayvon Martin's death was the byproduct of the US gun culture. George Zimmerman lived out the fantasy that so many other gun fanatics in America share: chasing down a young black male when, as he perceived it, law enforcement had failed. And because of Florida's revolting, NRA-inspired "stand your ground" law, prosecutors will have a hard time proving the obvious: that Zimmerman gunned down Martin in a cold-blooded act of murder.
Americans are obsessed with the right to bear arms. Their obsession, however, comes at a time when gun ownership is nothing more than a recreational activity. It is a hobby. We don't live in the wild west. We pay for police officers, at least until the same people who are the most fervent "gun rights"
advocates undermine the public sector to the point that state law enforcement becomes a thing of the past.
Our nation's obsession
with guns is a symptom of America's collective arrested development. We're a country of overgrown children thinking we're playing cops and robbers. We can disguise it as a "constitutional right" or "self-defense," all we want. But let's not fool ourselves. We think guns are fucking cool, consequences be damned.
Blame the NRA. Blame the Tea Party. Blame the Republicans. They've made advocating for gun control an untenable position in politics. And blame the people who support these gun policies that lead to tragedies like the killing of Trayvon Martin. We should be ashamed.
This story, however, won't prompt any changes in policies or a substantive discussion about our gun laws. Trite
slogans like "guns don't kill people, people kill people" will rule the
day. Compassion and common sense, once again, will be cast aside. The
powerful interests and petty individuals obsessed with their
constitutional right to a hobby will prevail. Trayvon's story will be gone in a couple more news cycles. Yet the
threat from individuals like George Zimmerman will remain.
No comments:
Post a Comment