Tucson Shooting Survivors Struggle With ‘What If?’ – NYTimes
Eleven score and…3/4 of a score more ago, the great nation known as the United States of America, which would ironically prove to be united for but a very minute portion of its history, was conceived amidst rebellious spirits, languid from persecution, and hopeful of a possible home for liberty and justice, in which both could finally end their eternal bickering and realize they were made for each other. Its constitution, or its first draft anyway, was elegantly worded and befitting of the grand project in democratic ideals that the conception of this country constituted. Granted, excerpts such as “all men are created equal” would later be scrutinized for its hypocrisy, and rectifications would soon arrive in the form of amendments to polish up the admittedly imperfect piece of legislation, but really, what finely-tuned automobile doesn’t need a few test-runs before seeing its true potential. Since its inception, there have been twenty-seven amendments, the first ten of which are referred to as the Bill Of Rights, ratified in 1791, of which the second was quick to ensure that no government would ever pass a measure that could confiscate our precious pistols and rifles, lest we be powerless in the event that our slaves refuse to tend to their chores or perhaps worse whenever the unsavory Duke of Ellington has the indecent idea of tarnishing the good name of your ‘madame’. Yes, this is America: the stars and stripes, the Bald Eagle and the right to “pack heat like the oven door.”1 One cannot simply scrap the ideals on which a country was founded. In this sense, this nation may have already lost its heart and soul in 1924 when it provided Native Americans with the right to cast votes, actually granting them ‘human-being’ status, or perhaps we should have realized something was awry in 1974 as even Texas achieved sanity when it finally rendered illegal the “justified shooting” of an adulterating wife and her lover if they were to be caught in the act by the former or latter’s spouse. Rest assured though red, white and blue gun-nu…aficionados, you can still count on government remaining steadfast and sticking to their 18th-century ‘guns’ when it comes to regulating firearms.
It has been just about three weeks since the Tucson shooting when we were finally able to proclaim that we started the year with a bang, pun intended or not depending on your fancy of dark humor. Setting aside the drastically over-mediatized aspect of Senator Gifford’s case compared to any student’s at Virginia Tech (after all our elected officials were put into office to lead, not to die), President Obama’s plea for a civil political discourse following the tragic events, free of finger pointing and name calling was much welcomed, albeit for naught. After all was said and done and Slim Shady and Hitler both shouldered their share of responsibility for influencing the troubled mind behind this attack, the issue of actually cracking down on firearms could only be found mentioned on liberal internet forums or perhaps a lonely blog/column on the New York Times website, tumbleweed rolling past, a hot dry air blowing through. It is blasphemy in today’s political forum to question a two century-old constitutional amendment. Could it be that America tolerates these shootings because the legislation that protects gun possession places on the podium of a symbolic set of amendments? Why would we take away your Desert Eagle when it is your fundamental right as an American, clenched fist and all?
Gun lobbyists are correct, it is people who kill people. Those people just happen to use guns as a means to their ends. Regardless, if you want gun control, and can’t be bothered to wait for the Virginia-Tech inspired bill that has stalled for over three years in the dark confines of the Senate, then running for public office just got another perk, joining actual health care. They qualify for public safety. Christina-Taylor, one of the Tucson shooting victims who will never get to see double digits, did not. Perhaps the political discourse should focus on her. Wait, scratch that, let’s focus on the fact she was born on September 11, 2001, bring Islam back into the conversation and blame Iran for the whole thing. Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
Note-worthy: “Perhaps nobody asks himself more questions than Mr. Zamudio, 24, who arrived at the Safeway parking lot just as the shooting stopped, his gun tucked inside his jacket.”
1:^-Z, Jay. “Heart Of The City.” The Blueprint. New York: Roc-A-Fella Records, 2001. Vocal.
Le Razor's Edge 