I have written before about America’s lax gun laws, the proliferation of guns and our governments’ (local and federal) seeming inability to do anything meaningful with gun control. Despite tragic school shootings, daily gang & drug related shootings and mass shootings that exceed most other countries in the world, it seems nothing can be done.
I was wrong.
I just finished reading the book The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights by Robert Spitzer. In this book, he details the how the US has had strict gun regulations throughout its history. From as far back as the 1700s and well into the mid 1950s, states have regulated firearms, ammo, silencers, automatic weapons, rifles, pistols and their usage.
Although the public (me included) thinks of America’s past as a revolutionary, Wild West, that included free and ready access to guns, that is a myth.
Spitzer concludes his book saying that “Second Amendment Rights proponents” are political opportunists who use this to garner votes, money and power. He shows, throughout history, how many organizations – including the NRA and gun manufacturers, shifted their positions on gun control based on gaining political and financial advantages.
I should have known. Political and lobbying positions always comes down to the cardinal rule – follow the money.
As for the general public, whether we are for or against more gun control doesn’t matter in the least. We’re just pawns and suckers.
I finished the book with a positive note of optimism. We can enact laws that do minimize gun related crime, injury and death. States (mostly) have done this before and could do it again. It may be 10 or 20 years until the political winds shift, but it’s been done before.
I recommend reading this book if you are interested in the details.