You're Both Wrong

Guns.
   Guns bad.  Guns good.  Guns all melted down.  Guns on every hip.
  The 'debate' about guns in America shows how polarized every argument has become.  How fractious.  How divisive.  How insanely one-sided each side is.  Both sides are dedicated to being right, not to listening to other opinions and coming to a middle ground.  It's how all political discourse has devolved the past ten years or so.*
   Here are the two arguments, at least as far as I can pick them apart:

   1)  No guns.  No one should have any kind of gun ever, at all, for any reason.  Having a gun makes you an evil person deserving of contempt.  If we still had stockades you gun owners would be in them.  We'd advocate for your execution if that weren't such a glaring irony that even we can see it.
   2)  Guns are American.  If you don't own a gun you're a panty-waist urbanite who's probably a closeted homosexual and for sure a socialist.  The only solution to gun violence is to put more guns out there.  You're a fool if you don't own a gun, want to own a gun, or love the smell of cordite in the morning.  If you were a real American you'd have a conceal/carry permit already.

  Polar opposite arguments occupying the fringes of the reality of the situation are never the right argument to make.  Taking either of these extreme positions is a way to shut down the conversation, not to find any real solution.  The two sides that are talking are talking at cross-purposes, trying to anticipate the other side's points instead of making their own.
   Gun control - I don't think the people who advocate 'gun control' know what they mean.  Two words - three syllables - tossed into the wind do not constitute a proposed solution.  It's just someone outraged by a situation who wants that situation never to happen again.
   Gun rights - I think these people know exactly what they mean, but what they mean is 'ain't nobody gonna take my guns from me.'  This is the opposite tack, it's someone outraged by the outrage, who feels threatened and wants to protect their own interests at all costs, even to the detriment of society.

They're both wrong.  And they're both childish.  The real truth and the real solution is somewhere in the middle, but it's a middle the extremists on both side refuse to admit exists.  It's there, though, waiting for well-reasoned, rational people to have a good, hard, honest look at it.  Here are some realities America will have to acknowledge if we're going to keep crazy people from killing children:


   1.  There's no way any government is going to be able to confiscate firearms.  I don't own a gun myself, but I would fight any effort to round them up.  That's too National Socialist for me.  Yes, gun violence is bad, but so is drunk driving and we're not calling for automobile confiscations.

   2.  It is far, far, far too easy for anyone to buy a firearm.  In Texas, for instance, there are no firearm licenses.  Anyone can buy a gun from a dealer if they pass a background check.  Anyone can buy a gun from another private citizen with no check at all.  We title and license our cars, we could do the same for guns.

  3.  There is no reason for a private citizen to own a military-grade weapon designed to kill people.

  4.  There is no reason to assume that if a person owns a gun he or she is an irresponsible redneck.

  5.  You can disagree with someone without wanting to abrogate their civil rights.

  6.  You can't predict what crazy people are going to do.  That's the definition of crazy.

  7.  As a society we can't ignore those people who need mental health care or pretend they don't exist.

  8.  Legislation based on 'the last bad thing that happened' is reactionary and does no one any good.  Just think TSA and taking off our Goddamned shoes for years now. Our lawmakers need to get out in front of issues, not trudge along behind like the pooper-scoopers at a parade.

So, both sides, listen up:  no more talking points, no more high-school debate rhetorical flourishes, no more shouting past the other side instead of talking to them.  This is for-real, no-shit grownup stuff happening here, so you both need to behave like adults.  Have the tough talk, make the tough decisions, and realize that neither of you is going to get 100% of what you want.  Adults compromise, they come to an agreement, they get things done.  So do it.


*  I blame Baby Boomers, like I blame them for almost everything.