From today’s NWGUN.com blog post:
We are all affected by the horrible events that unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families that were affected by this tragedy.
Today, the NRA held a press conference where NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre communicated the NRA proposal in response to the recent tragedy in Newtown.
I wanted to take a few moments to communicate how we at NWGUN.com feel about what the NRA proposed.
First, I found the implied “connection” between gun violence and media (particularly video games and movies) difficult to understand. It’s hard to understand exactly what Wayne was proposing if anything. We feel that it’s a parent/family responsibility to keep track of what kids are watching, reading, playing, etc. We’re not aware of any evidence that playing violent video games has any effect on crime rates.
Second, I wanted to state some beliefs that we stand by here at NWGUN.com:
- In America, we have the constitutional right to defend ourselves. This right includes lawful gun ownership via the 2nd amendment, and the right to carry where carry is legal. NWGUN.com believes in these rights from a philosophical perspective, and is committed to protecting these rights for the current generation and future generations.
- Some forms of gun legislation make sense. This would include restricting individuals with criminal histories from owning, possessing or carrying firearms. This also includes restricting younger individuals from buying or possessing firearms. While this kind of legislation may “make sense” We question how effective most of these laws are. If someone has a criminal history, they have already shown disregard for the law. Why would anyone believe that convicted criminals will obey gun restrictions?
- Creating “gun-free” zones creates an opportunity for violent crime. Since law abiding citizens are the ones that obey such restrictions, this creates a natural opportunity for those who don’t obey the law or are not mentally stable.
- Our country should act to address school safety in ways that are effective, not out of fear or gun-phobia. There are no easy answers, and we must be courageous and respond in ways that are effective. The solutions to gun violence in schools should include empowering effective and timely responses to violent tragedies as they unfold.
To summarize, we are not sure about what the NRA was inferring regarding guns in media, we don’t think that’s the issue. The proposal for a “National School Safety Shield Program” sounds promising. We will look forward to hearing more details as the NRA shares more information.
I was disappointed by the NRA’s response. Some of what was presented was either irrelevant or clumsily presented. Given the time between the event and the much anticipated response, they should have been able to present something better.
I agree with your 2nd amendment believes. I disagree with your beliefe that violent video games and violent movies dont affect all of us. The more violence we put into our brain the more we are desencitized to violence. 20 years ago the idea of sticking a pair of forcepts into a babys head and killing it before it comes out of the mother would have been crimilized. Today it is pushed for by our ” progressive thinking” polititions. Murdering 1000s of babys each year. Where human life is meaningless we become just like the German Nazis killing anything not perfect by our new standards. Also we already have to many gun laws on the books. Criminals cannot poesess guns, but they do. There are 1000s of guns sold to criminals because the FBI did not check the background fast enough resulting in them getting guns from dealers. Hum sould like “Fast and Ferious”. Good reason to controll guns right? Not. Most states that I know of all do an FBI check and most people walk out with their guns. Seems to me the FBI needs to update their system of quicker and better responce time on a background check. Your items 1,3,and 4 are great. You need to check your facts on all the current gun laws that arent working already. You do a great job of getting reloading info out. Will you do anything on different bullets and how they shoot and reload? Say 9mm, 115gr plated verse JHP or XTP FMJ. ??
I have for sometime considered joining NRA. However listening to the poorly delivered response has done nothing to convince me to do so.
The comments delivered by your article make more sense. Let us hope the NRA does much better if they have a second chance.
Most people who pay attention to what is going on in the country and work with young people DO NOT find the “implied “connection” between gun violence and media (particularly video games and movies) difficult to understand.”
I have to disagree with your thinking that video games and violent movies don’t affect us. Remember, the Army employs violent video games as a training platform which serves to “desensitize” the shooter to shooting “human” images. Clearly, many of these violent videos commercially produced arguably accomplish the same thing.
When I was in High School, 40 years ago, there were armed policemen in the school building and on school grounds because of the violence. Perhaps it was an extreme measure but we felt much safer. After 911, it did not take long for our government to beef up security at our airports and although we all hate the process, we feel safer when we fly. Unfortunately, our government does not feel it serves their interest to protect our Troops, Borders and Foreign Embassies, so why should we think they will protect our children here at home? It is just another excuse to promote their agenda by attacking our 2nd Amendment rights. We have not only the right but responsibility to defend ourselves from all enemies, foreign or domestic. What ever happened to personal responsibility?
I do not care for the unprofessional manner in which the NRA presented their position but I feel it is important they made a statement, sooner rather than later. Put armed guards in the schools for the short term until we find a better solution. More gun laws are not the solution.
Since I live in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia, we are currently blessed with some of the stricktest gun rules in the US. We have background checks (however accurate the NICS is), 10 day wait after purchase, the “bullet button” for ARs and AKs (makes it tecnically a fixed magazine), you must have a trigger lock or an approved gun safe, and no weapon can have a magazine with more that 10 rounds.
Kalifornia also has a list of approved handguns which can be purchase (you can not buy ANY handgun made by Remington – they are not on the list) You must be 21 to legally purchase a handgun but it doesn’t stop the street gangs if Oakland Ca from killing each other.
Concealed carry is next to impossible to obtain. Even open carry (unloaded of course, has been banned also.
If you would like to read a good study on control world wide, get a copy of John Lott’s “More Guns Less Crime”, in paperback (Amazon).
MA regs are as strict as CA, does not stop the inner city bangers from blasting away at each other.
Many MA schools have Police Officers, called “Resource Officers” but they aren’t there for security and don’t screen incoming visitors. Theyre focused on “safety” and spend all their time arresting kids for pot, truancy, fighting, etc. Jobs school vice principals used to do. Cops are trained in crime prevention so that’s what they find. Can you imagine a bunch of armed ex-marines in the schools?
The rant by LaPierre set NRA back ten years. Can’t believe he still has a job after that speech. Blamed everyone and everything and made it clear that NRA was not going to be part of any discussion.
As to the lack of understanding between violent video games and movies, primarily in young/younger people. They simply become desensitized to violence.
For a better understanding of how kids respond, see the link below on the Bobo Experiment. Then maybe the test and its results may shed some light on the connection between violence in video games and movies. And I say kids, the young and younger people because if they become desensitized at a young age, before any illness is noticed and or diagnosed, it can and usually does have some ill effect. Or in Lanza’s case, I think with whatever condition he had, his mind, smart as he may have been, was somewhat that of a child.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html
But I think the main correlation is desensitization to violence. Especially in and with video games. And in movies it’s not only desensitization but it’s also glorification. And the media, by the constant reporting, glorifies the shooters causing people to say hey, I want to go out having my name and picture all over the news.
I refuse to be ashamed or feel I should be ashamed for being a gun owner. A gun owner did not do this.
Same goes for the Virginia Tech. Shooter. He only bought a gun to do what he did. Plus, in both his case and the case of Gabby Giffords shooter, the mental health system, primarily at the colleges they attended, and or the doctors or teachers or whomever they saw, completely and utterly failed.
The last things I’ll is there is an agenda here. That agenda, to disarm citizens. Or, to fundamentally transform America. Therefore it is my honest opinion we can’t trust what the media is being told no more then we can trust what the media is telling us.
In this case , we were first told the AR was left in the car. Then were were told it wasn’t. Then the coroner comes out and gives a graphic horrifying description or bullet riddled children.
In both the Sandy Hook and Aurora Colorado theater shootings we were told they had body armor on. I refuse to believe this until I see it. Mainly because again, there is an agenda here. And making it as horrific as possible, as demented and planned as possible works better then not. But my main reason is, body armor isn’t cheap and I don’t think either could afford it. A tactical vest, sure, that I’d believe.
But in the case of the most recent shooting, the AR was left in the car, or the other. Which do you think fits the agenda? Another part of that agenda is MISINFORMATION!
To further explain a couple things in my post above:
In regards to where I said same goes for the Virginia Tech shooter, I meant in my eyes and mind he wasn’t a gun owner. He simply bought a gun or guns to do what he did.
And by a gun owner did not do this is because he didn’t own a gun because the already gun control laws in place, WORKED!
I think the NRA has some of the concepts correct, but they are out of date with their content. I do however feel that spending 5 billion dollars a year to protect our school children is a very small price to pay, considering we give about 50 billion in just aid around the world and several hundreds of billions on war. My concept would be not to build big police post for one county, but to take one class room from every school and make it the mini police post for that are where 6-8 police officers potrol and protect the schools during school hours. Banning guns never works it just hurts the honest people and law responsible people. There are lots of problems in our world, but guns are not one of them.
If we’d stop giving the billions we do to Egypt, Pakistan and a few others, it’d be paid for and we’d even have cash left over to spare. But that’s not part of the anti-gun eventually ban all guns and disarm America agenda though.
Like most everyone else, the connection between media and violence is not that hard to see. The graphic violence found in movies and video games is unbelievable when compared to movies and video games just 15-20 yrs ago. I’m not sure how anyone could argue that our kids aren’t becoming desensitized. I understand that it’s generaly perceived as more realistic and increases the cinematic value, but it is being marketed to our kids. I tried to keep my 19yr old from such things while he was growing up and consider myself lucky that he wasn’t a video game junky like most of his friends. With that said, I also don’t believe the stuff should be banned, we should just find better ways to keep it away from the undeveloped minds of our kids. I also don’t believe that video games turn our kids into mass murderers. However, I do believe this kind of graphic violence could cause a mentally ill person to act out or loose touch with reality….???
NRA, while I’m not always the NRA’s biggest supporter, I am a member and I believe any gun owner that is passionate about our 2nd ammendment rights, should also be a member. We have no bigger voice in Washington than the NRA. Personally, I don’t believe LaPierre’s speech was so bad. I think he was trying to offer a possible solution other than gun bans. Has anyone come out with anything better? I personally have a couple better ideas, but LaPierre’s would be a good immediate start. I understand if you don’t always agree with the NRA, I don’t, but right now gun owners need to stand united. I would also suggest everyone check out the 2011 homicide and gun violence reports on FBI.gov to see the real truth about gun crime. Study the numbers and consider what is really behind the push for increased gun control, it’s not about saving lives…
I would like to say this.
The mother of the shooter is responsable.
Negligence on her part for not having her guns in a safe knowing her son was a troubled person.
You can’t blame the whole United States for her negligence .
You dot blame every car owner when some drunk causes a wreck.
She new he was unstable, and yet left him alone with access to firearms.
She was not a responsible gun owner. Keep your guns locked up unless you are carrying it.
Thanks for the thoughtful response to Wayne Lapierre. Personally, I was rather surprised that the NRA decided to publish a position, although I understand their need to respond to the immediate reactionary calls for more gun legislation. I have to say that I agree with Michael regarding the NRA. If you believe gun ownership is a privelege of law-abiding americans and you believe in the second amendment, then you need to support the NRA. No, you don’t (and probably won’t) always agree with every little thing they say. But, they are the ONLY organization lobbying Washington for our gun rights, and in most cases the only thing standing in the way of the anti-gun crowd.
We live in a post-modern society. One of the chief tenants of post-modernism is that there are no absolutes. This is because we are an accident of physics, a trillion to one arbitrary event that occurred 14 billion years ago. Classical philosophy assumed that there was a prime-mover, gods or a god that started the whole thing. Absolutes were a logical consequence of a universe that leapt into existence as a result of some intelligent design.
Today students are taught, society teaches, the media enforces, and artists depict a universe with no absolutes, no true truth. The consequences of this thinking results the absence of any universal moral code. Human beings adhere to some type of moral code because they are afraid not to or it makes them feel better – it authenticates them.
In reality helping a little old lady cross the street or running over her with your car have the same moral value in the grand scheme of things. There is no moral or immoral, no true or false, no good or bad. There is only convention and what 51% of the populace decides is good or bad or what some despot decides you should do. Remember that post-modernism and science tells us we are simply a product of time plus chance.
It is easy for a young person to commit suicide today, or shoot a bunch of innocent kids in a classroom because death is the final experience. You grab all the gusto you can, do whatever you can get away with and in the end you are gone. Why should a deranged kid pay attention to any moral convention when he has been taught that there is none? The tragic events in our schools are predictable and the logical result of post-modernism.
This is the rub; controlling access to guns will not negate post-modern thinking. The deranged youth will carry out his deadly intentions regardless of his access to guns. Once again we are blaming a weapon for a sick individual and the current societal perspective on the nature of things.
If we want to stop indiscriminate violence and the seemingly illogical taking of life we need to address the sickness of the deranged coupled with the consequences living in a post-modern world.
We need to reconcile the existence of a formative document, albeit an amazing one written in a time when absolutes were considered compatible with the notion of inalienable rights. If the idea of basic human rights given to us by some supreme being seems logical to us and we have no contention with absolutes then we should live accordingly. We should insist on the validity of the Constitution and its emphasis on inalienable rights.
If we want to continue to live in a Republic and adhere to the rule of law, defined outside of ourselves then we should do so. We have a process for changing the document. It’s called the Amendment process. If on the other hand we believe that all is arbitrary then we shouldn’t be surprised when mass murders take place or when some politicians and judges believe that the Constitution is an outdated, arbitrary document with little or no value in today’s modern society. And, we shouldn’t be surprised when those same individuals illogically link ownership of guns with our societal ills.