Gun culture failed thinking

If you follow the logic of the claim by the NRA, that good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns, some gun-toting shoot-first-minded armed citizen should have shot David Michael Keene, son of the president of the NRA when he opened fire on a highway, nearly killing another driver, in a case that resulted in a conviction for road rage that resulted in a 10 year sentence. THAT is the failure of the gun culture - that it gives gun carriers, including far too many with concealed carry permits, what they see as permission to shoot others. That they make bad choices is evident in the unfounded assertion that ordinary citizens are better shots than law enforcement, that they make bad decisions about when to intervene - notably George Zimmerman harassing and then shooting Trayvon Martin, or the idiots who think they could have taken down James Holmes in a crowded, dark theater where vision was obscured by smoke grenades and tear gas.  These people lack the judgment and they lack the self-control and self-discipline to know when to shoot and whom to shoot.  Instances of road rage shootings, accidental shootings (notably the once a week incidents at Walmart stores) and the numerous cases of just plain negligence make it obvious that we need fewer guns in our public places in the hands of private citizens. They are far too often emotionally unstable or immature, or they have an exaggerated notion of their own expertise combined with a disregard for safety rules.

The plain reality is that our numbers show the reality; not everyone who currently has one or more guns should be gun owners.  The NRA right-wingers who believe EVERYONE should have a gun, all the time, everywhere call that being a 'gun grabber'.  Nothing could be further from the truth. There are lots of people who are perfectly safe, sane gun owners, who practice excellent gun security and safety. But these are not the people who are deluding themselves they are superheroes with guns who could succeed in making impossible shots, or who believe they should be walking the streets ready to gun down maybe-felons, or who believe that anyone who has a gun is a good guy - except for minorities whom they tend to view with rare exceptions consistently as the bad guys.

According to Whine La Pierre, David Keene, Ted Nugent, and their other NRA mouthpieces, we should have saved ourselves the cost of a trial and jail; someone with a gun should have shot the son of the NRA president for opening fire on a driver in an act of road rage - a felony.

I don't believe NRA president Keene would have shot his son for trying to kill another driver, but then, I also find NRA president Keene to be a grotesque hypocrite. If he had done such a good job of teaching proper gun use, gun safety, and responsible gun ownership, presumably following the education programs provided by the NRA, then this should never have happened if training and the background checks for gun permits were adequate.

And now the NRA is claiming we have to have more guns - because of people like David Michael Keene.

I wonder if they will advocate for the son of the NRA to get HIS gun rights restored?  I wonder if David Michael Keene is going to be playing more violent video games and watching violent movies with lots of guns?

I have a better idea - let hunters have their guns, but not assault rifles; let sports shooters who enjoy skeet shooting and target shooting have their firearms, after strict background checks, so long as they belong to a gun club or have some sort of range membership; and lets allow home owners guns for their homes for defense, but again, NOT assault rifles or large capacity magazines, so long as all gun owners provide secure LOCKED storage for their firearms, maintain liability insurance for any damage, injury, or death caused by their firearms, and undergo licensing that must be renewed (including background checks) and some sort of eye test like that used for a drivers license. Lets require background checks for ALL sales on firearms AND ammunition, except with proof of a gun license / permit AND with proof of insurance.

But at the same time, we are NOT safer with more guns; we need to treat this as a public health issue the same way we treated automobiles that was effective in reducing deaths and injuries from car accidents.  We need to change our gun culture from the assumptions that are currently too prevalent about when to use a firearm either offensively or defensively.  We need to DIScourage vigilante justice, and to repeal ALL shoot first laws because they make no one safer, and have drastically INCREASED homicides.

I would love to see some interviewer ask David Keene if a gun carrying citizen should have shot and killed his son when he opened fire on another driver. Instead Keene does interviews with 9/11 'truther' nutjobs, where he is not likely to get asked any serious questions by the tin foil hat brigades. The last thing we need is to be arming our crazy conspiracy theory right wing insurrectionists who are already too eager to shoot people connected with the government or who simply don't share their extremist views. That's because the NRA is losing ground everywhere else.  (Trivia quiz question - what is the origin of the notion of wearing tin foil hats? Who came up with it, and what is it supposed to accomplish?)

From the excellent site, Addicting info

NRA President’s Son Convicted For Road Rage Shooting, Nears End Of 10-Year Jail Sentence

2013/02/21

By Elisabeth Parker

Photo from The Blaze.

When National Rifle Association President David Keene bragged this week that his pro-gun agenda would win because “guns are cool,” he may have  rattled the bones of that skeleton lying around in his family closet. As ABC 7 would have it, Keene’s 31-year-old son David Michael Keene was accused in December, 2002 for shooting his handgun at another driver while taking his BMW for a jaunt along the Potomac on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia. Police officers reported that Keene Jr.’s shot came within inches of the other driver’s head. In January, 2003, the judge sentenced the then-21-year-old to 10 years in prison, which means … Oh my! … He should be getting out right about … Now.