What a Fall From Grace

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedGen ZGun Debate

While I’ve been in college only for four and a half years, it feels as if I’ve been there twice as long because so much has changed from the time I enrolled and to now.

I entered college under Barack Obama and will be graduating under Donald Trump. I’ve watched Trump gradually tear down what little Obama was able to build, branding it as ineffective, but was unable to come up with anything better.

In my junior year, I interned with The Japan Times when I studied abroad in Japan. Every day without fail, Trump would be on the front page with new or recurring shenanigans. Through a different cultural lens, I was able to look at my president, at my country and see how we are continuing to plummet from grace.

The mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL happened while I was abroad. When I returned home, there were many more mass shootings. There were many more shootings in general, which claimed the lives of innocent people for unjustifiable reasons.

If we put forth legislation to regulate the gun market, people will claim that it’s an infringement on their second amendment rights, and/or use under-the-table methods to obtain a gun. It turns out that the more you tell someone to do something, the more likely it is for them to do the opposite.

This holds true in terms of immigration as well. Everyone’s circumstances for emigrating from their home countries are different, though more often than not, it is a better option to take a chance on America versus staying home. Under this anti-immigration presidency, immigrants have been treated worse than I’ve ever seen in my life. Separating children from their adult relatives, housing these children and adults in separate detainment camps without the barest of essentials, and making these children stand trials without translators or juries are just a few of the inhumane efforts to deport these immigrants.

America was built on immigration and continues to thrive today because of immigration. Yet, xenophobia has a vice grip on some Americans. The fear of foreignness coupled with the misconception that immigrants are taking over our economy result sometimes in fatal events like the mass shooting in El Paso, TX.

I continue to watch as our “magnificent” country further deteriorate because that’s all I can do when I don’t know what to do or what can be done. 

Similar Read: Fascism 101

Fantasy Firearms… Could a Black Panthers Movement Save the Nation?

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGun Debate

Roughly two weeks ago, on August 31st, 2019, another mass shooting took place in the cities of Midland and Odessa Texas. It was the second incident in Texas for the month of August 2019, and at the time of this writing, the week of September 8th, 2019, there have been 289 mass shootings in the United States thus far. For those who wonder what defines a mass shooting… the Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as “a single incident in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are “shot and/or killed” at “the same general time and location.”

289… think about that. We as a nation have experienced MORE mass shootings (289) in the calendar year of 2019 so far than actual days (September 8th is the 251st day of the calendar year).

After each shooting; there are a couple of days of “gun control” “banning assault weapons” “mental health issues” blah blah… then a few days later back to whatever we were talking about before. Right now, the Texas shootings are long gone from the headlines, and now it’s back to Antonio Brown’s NFL saga, Hurricane Dorian (the Hurricane Trump thought it was heading for Alabama), and fantasy football… which is fitting… because it’s a fantasy for anyone who truly cares about gun violence in this nation to think anything will actually change.

So, what could cause a reaction from policymakers so dreadful they would immediately apply true prudent measures to gun ownership? 

To paraphrase comedian Dave Chappelle on his on Netflix special Sticks & Stones… there’s only one way to change gun laws and it’s for Black and Brown people to sign up in mass for gun licenses and ownership.

Let me explain via US history with two incidents in the 1960s…

August 1965 – Los Angeles

“Watts Riot” – Took place from August 11th to 16th, due to a police brutality incident against a pregnant woman. Immediately afterwards, the Los Angeles Police Department created “SWAT” or “Special Weapons and Tactics” designed to handle urban unrest, rioting, or widespread violence. In other words, a military level response to unruly and armed Black people.

1967 – California

The Mulford Act was enacted to repeal a California law that allowed the public carrying of loaded firearms. The bill was introduced by Republican Don Mulford, from Oakland, who wrote the bill as a response to seeing armed Black Panther members conducting patrols in Oakland.

The aforementioned acts in California would be duplicated on many municipal, state, and federal levels. The common trend… a response to armed and angry Black people.

So, what does that mean?

It means that if the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook, in which dozens of White kids were killed, didn’t cause anyone to blink an eye about our gun violence issues… then nothing else would… except the usual US history protection of White fear against a perceived Black threat. Yes, it was a joke made by Dave Chappelle, but the thought of legally armed Black people, immigrants or Muslims, or all three… OH MY!!! It would be the ultimate reason and motivation, again, to draft laws to vet gun ownership and curb gun production and sales.

Similar Read: MLK: Bankrupt Justice 

Tree of Life

by with No Comment FeaturedGun DebateRace RelationsSocial Issues

Robert Bowers is a sick and unstable man. Yes, he does check all those boxes, but he also checks the box of being a terrorist. His actions on Saturday, October 27th, took the lives of 11 people. These 11 people had stories, challenges, dreams, accomplishments, and loved ones that each and everyone built a world around, and this one man decided to tear it down.

Why did he do it?  Because they had programs that were designed to help refugees and the less unfortunate.

Take a moment to let this digest. A moment to realize that yes, though our nation has mass shootings all too frequently, one of the reasons why it keeps happening is because we as a nation fail to stand together.

We allow men and women in power to divide us, and then to show our disgust and solidarity with the victims, we provide a moment of silence and hang our flags low. This is what we do when an individual who has been fueled by ignorance, rage, and fear, decides to become a monster and rip lives apart because of their beliefs.

Guns aren’t our only problems in these situations. It’s how we cultivate these types of monsters and then do absolutely nothing to correct our collective mistake. 

Don’t send your thoughts and prayers. The victims don’t need them anymore, and their broken friends and families are tired of hearing them. 

Solutions?

The Debate Behind 3D Printed Guns

by with No Comment Gen ZGun Debate

The second amendment has become a staple in partisan debates, enhancing the deep divide between political party ideals. Despite the laissez-faire intent of the law, America’s obsession with guns is becoming more prominent as mass shootings and gun violence are also becoming more prominent. Following the increase of gun violence in America, citizens are more critical of not only the second amendment but also the availability and readiness of weapons for a wide range of Americans. Data from the Pew Research Center shows the public attitude towards gun rights has reflected this increased awareness over the past few years, stating the support for gun rights has decreased from 52% in 2014 to 47% in 2017. 

Although the government is being pressed for gun reform, private businesses (that citizens have no stake in) are getting involved in the distribution of firearms. One nonprofit group, Defense Distributed, had been approved to “publish plans, files and 3-D drawings in any form and exempts them from the export restrictions.” The group was told to take down the plans, the government citing an International Traffic in Arms Regulations violation, but they filed a lawsuit in 2013 fighting for their capitalistic rights. Despite initial resistance, the lawsuit recently came to a sudden settlement allowing the group to distribute AR-15’s, handguns, and other firearms without restriction. Not only are the guns freely distributed, but they are also unregulated and untraceable. 

This ruling in favor of an unregulated free-market is a concerning leap backward for the safety of America. The ability for groups to freely print unregulated firearms is a terrifying reality in a country where millions of citizens are calling on their government to pass stricter gun laws. Although it is presumptuous to assume the worst following this ruling, it is ignorant to not consider the impact of the mass distribution of unregulated weapons on America and other countries. Even if government officials trust the free-market system in this case, it’s unknown how this will expand to and affect other countries where weapon sales are restricted due to violent government regimes and political revolutions.

The main concern in this situation is the inability of the US government to track and regulate firearms as well as their inability to protect its citizens. While tracking and regulating can create massive problems for the criminal justice system, not all safety precautions should be thrown out the window yet. Although the guns can be printed in plastic, therefore able to pass through metal detectors undetected, they are inoperable without two pieces of metal, including a firing pin. So the guns themselves aren’t as inconspicuous as they seem, but they do make it easier to get around metal detectors and restrictions. Not only can the guns easily make it around metal detectors, they can easily shimmy their way around age restrictions and background checks. Another thought to consider is the technological advances that may occur as a result of these prints and plans being available. With the usage of bump stocks always under debate, it is easy to see the potential technological features that can be quickly added to guns through such plans that will serve as a “booster” for ammunition.

In a last-ditch effort to stop Defense Distributed, a few states including Pennsylvania have initiated lawsuits against the organization that would block or ban 3D guns in one way or another. Many states are also urging the government to withdraw from the settlement. On the surface, 3D printed guns present a scary, unknown future for Americans. But the fact of this situation is that the future is almost definitely, entirely, unknown. People can predict and argue about what this ruling means and what will happen in the future, but we just don’t know. 

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References:

William, David. Americans can legally download 3-D printed guns starting next month. CNN. July 20, 2018.

Pew Research Center. 2017. Public Views About Guns. Washington, D.C.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. 2016. GUN VIOLENCE BY THE NUMBERS. Manhattan, New York.