Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Unintended consequences can spell disaster

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No longer the absurd premise for a joke, a 9-year-old with an Uzi is exactly the scenario that turned deadly in Arizona recently when a shooting instructor let a girl shoot an Uzi in automatic mode. The powerful gun’s uncontrolled kick sprayed bullets and mortally wounded the instructor. Whatever the instructor intended, the little girl and her parents will live with the unintended consequence of his decision for the rest of their lives.
    The instructor, the girl and her family were all victims of the idea that there should be no limits on firearms in the U.S., an idea with deadly consequences.
    Americans can’t drive without a license and can’t drive with a license until our mid-teens. Our society long ago determined that people without a certain level of maturity and training shouldn’t be trusted to drive cars and trucks safely. Yet, we impose no limits on firing any type of gun.
    The death of the Arizona shooting instructor was the unintended consequence of a position for which the National Rifle Association lobbies maniacally. It holds that no limits should be placed on guns lest Americans lose all rights under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms. It’s an absurd position—and even NRA members know it.
    The NRA was founded in 1871 to teach people how to safely and accurately fire guns, a goal that is today supported by more than 4 million dues-paying members. Its other intended purpose, according to its website, is to protect gun rights embodied in the Constitution.
    The NRA’s no-limits stance runs counter to the sentiments of its own members, three-quarters of whom support background checks of gun buyers.
    The NRA relies heavily on contributions from the $12-billion-a-year gun industry, which donated between $19.3 million and $60.2 million to the NRA between 2005 and 2013, depending on the categories of giving included, according to the nonprofit Violence Policy Center.
    While the number of gun owners has declined in the U.S., the number of guns in private hands, especially military-style weapons, has risen dramatically since 2008. Gun sales regularly skyrocket and NRA rhetoric gets fevered on whispers of gun-control legislation, whispers that become louder after a mass shooting incident. The gun industry clearly benefits from the NRA’s fanatical opposition to any gun regulations.
    However, it seems unlikely that giving an Uzi to a 9-year-old is the right for which the founding fathers intended the Second Amendment.
    The shocking death of the shooting instructor was not the first unintended consequence of our failure to regulate guns, and it won’t be the last unless we ditch the insane absurdity of no-limits on guns.

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