---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108-page perfect-bound ISSN#/ISBN# issue/paperback book “What Now, My Love” cc&d, v330 (the February 2023 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book a Mural of a Forest the cc&d Jan.-April 2023 magazine issues collection book		get the 426 page Jan.-April 2023 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Guns R Us (U.S.)

John Amendall

    TV pundit James Corden of The Late Late Show praised the United States for its opportunities, generosity and important contributions to science and global welfare. However he was quoted: “On this issue (gun violence) U.S. is one of the most backward places in the world.” Mr. Corden further opined that there hasn’t been any or many recent mass shootings in France, India, Italy, Germany, China or Japan. Norway, Sweden and Australia might be added to the list. I don’t normally appreciate anyone from another country making a considerable living here defaming our country. But on this important issue Mr. Corden is spot on as the British would say.
    While reviewing sources of information for this piece, I came across a poll asking the question why does the U. S. have more mass shootings than many other countries. One of the reasons cited was the influence of violent movies, TV programs and video games. This category was rated 37%. Moreover recently Hollywood figures recognized that movies can influence society’s mores and manners. They acknowledged that violence creates drama in movies and thought Hollywood should be more aware of its influence, and more circumspect about its unnecessary application. Compared to background checks, increased purchase age, red flag laws, AR-15 bans ... the influence of violent movies, TV and video games seemed to be a minor contributor in the development and fascination of America’s gun culture. You be the judge.
    I found 18 movies with the word gun in their title: Way of the Gun, Hour of the Gun, The Fastest Gun, The Man with the Golden Gun, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Return of the Gunfighter, The History Channel: Tales of the Gun .... I’ll spare you the remaining eleven titles. You get the idea.
    Actor John Wayne starred in 185 films from 1926 to 1976. Eighty-four of his films were Westerns. The others included war movies, adventure, police work, and romance. He received 3 Academy Award Nominations and one Oscar. In addition he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom and 3 Golden Globe Awards. Whether you liked or disliked Wayne’s persona and career, one can not deny his broad appeal among men and teenagers with the commercial success of the number of movies he made.
    He was definitely a box office hit.. Some of his Western movies included: Rio Bravo, The Alamo, The Searchers, True Grit, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Shootist .... The universal theme of Westerns is the single, lone good man with a gun, fighting a bad man or gang with a gun (s). If Wayne wasn’t shooting someone in a Western, he sure did in his war movies. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Guns make things right, even if they are justified in a war to protect the nation.
    Wayne wasn’t the only Western star through the 40s and 70s. A list might include Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Ward Bond, Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey, Audie Murphy. The latter was the most decorated combat soldier in WWII with 33 awards including the Congressional Medal of Honor. In the eyes of young men he was someone to emulate even out of context. No one could question his valor as a legitimate real life hero and here he was on the silver screen dispensing justice with a gun. Strong stuff. Young men were impressed.
    Moreover other actors with more prestige; Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Richard Boone, Gregory Peck, Clint Eastwood tipped their hat and shot guns in Westerns. This is quite a line up of important actors playing roles accommodating solving problems with guns. One might argue that Westerns are no longer a viable influence on the movie public and relatively young minds. Still there were a few Westerns in the 90s. The Spaghetti Westerns were so bad I didn’t even consider them. But they were produced elsewhere. Point of order. TV stations have channels dedicated to presenting Westerns. Westerns from the 50s through the 70s are regularly presented every day.
    But wait. What about television? From the same period a whole host of TV programs featured Westerns with the same message. A sampling of these TV shows follows: The Rifleman, Wanted Dead or Alive, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Virginian, Bat Masterson, The Wild, Wild West, Bonanza, Death Valley Days, Have Gun Will Travel and Gunsmoke. Gunsmoke may be the epitome example of the gun culture.
    Gunsmoke originated on the radio with the voice of William Conrad playing the role of Marshal Matt Dillon. Conrad had a great voice, and convinced you better do what he ordered you to do or you were in big trouble. The show was so successful it was coopted by television and became the longest running (1955-1975) dramatic series in television history. Twenty years is commonly considered a generation folks. Several full length movies were made featuring the same roles from television. John Wayne was originally slated for the role of Matt Dillon, but he declined it pursuing other movie ventures. Wayne generously recommended a young actor James Arness. He was bigger (6’7”) than Wayne (6’3.5”) and quite convincing in the role.
    The introduction to the TV show depicted the back of a tall man moving away from the camera. The handle grip of his pistol in a holster was visible on his right hip. Another figure appeared down the street walking towards the tall man. Then the tall man quickly pulled the longest pistol you’ve ever seen out of his holster and fired. You don’t see the result of the shot but as sure as your reading this we all knew what just happened. And another episode of Gunsmoke began. This image of a heroic figure risking his life with a pistol was a very seductive gesture for young men looking for a hero. A violent and dramatic introduction. But this show played almost 50 years ago you say. But this show is presently playing on TV stations featuring Westerns.
    One more TV program as an example. Have Gun (there it is again) Will Travel played from 1957 to 1963. This show depicted a man named Paladin, played by Richard Boone, who was not a legal law enforcer like Matt Dillon. Paladin advertised (sends his card out) that he was available to right some wrong in another person’s life or organization’s troubles. He was a West Point graduate who fought in the Civil War and became a dedicated vigilante. One of their Boys. West Point must of loved it.
    After participating in the Civil War he settled into San Francisco’s Hotel Carlton. Pretty posh for a gunfighter waiting for response to his business card. Another lone, single man with a gun fighting against the bad guys. The popular TV series Yellowstone is a soap opera not a Western. One of our elected officials wants more guns so that good guys (law abiding citizens in todays vernacular) can shoot bad guys. Wonder where he got this idea from. And these are the people we’re electing to fight crime and protect our children. In the real world it’s a rarity that a good man or woman with a gun successfully deters a potential crime or killer. Once in a while it happens. Arming more people is a bad idea.
    This account of the inferred role of mostly Western movies influencing young people to seek fame becoming heroes suggests that I would censor these violent sources. I deplore censorship and find as much comfort with the First Amendment as some do with the Second Amendment.
    My Dad and I watched Western movies and TV shows together. During the presentations he’d ask me what I thought was going on in the shows? Who was doing what with whom? And for what reason? Why was it necessary to kill? Was there any justification for taking peoples lives? Were there other ways to handle differences than shooting someone? At that time I didn’t appreciate or understand the discussions we had. As I got a little older, I finally appreciated and understood my Dad was assessing my response to the violence in Westerns and other movies as well. Did these movies make me more aggressive? Was I threatening classmates at school? Bullying them? Starting fights? And yes. Mea Culpa. Mea Culpa. Mea Maxima Culpa I had my share of scrapes but not on a regular basis. If someone hit me, I’d hit that sucker right back. Starting fights was bad form. I was fortunate to have a Father to keep me flying straight. Everyone doesn’t have a humane, authoritative figure to perform this important role. But for those who do count your blessings. Any censorship or control begins at home.
    My Dad particularly liked the character Paladin in Have Gun Will Travel. The irony of a gentleman gun fighter amused him. But he also cautioned that some actors were so good playing villains, people actually started to relate and identify with them. “Watch out for these characters,” he said. “These guys are very subtle and insidious.” I had to look those words up in a dictionary then.
    I don’t know anything about video games but our children do. Our oldest son informed me that he and his wife actively monitor the length of time spent and types of video games their children can play. Further he informed me that some video games project considerable violent images. Competition for destroying the bad guys or whatever they may be tends to desensitize awareness to the effects of real violence. Movies, television, and video games don’t kill people but they certainly don’t discourage the country’s fascination and fixation with its gun culture.
    Why do other wealthy democratic countries have significantly lower rates of gun violence including mass shootings than we do? The Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau) of our Northern neighbor Canada recently proposed a national freeze on handguns to curb an increase in homicides. His proposal would apply to the buying, selling, transferring and importing of handguns in Canada. Really liked one of his quotes. “We can not become so polarized that nothing gets done.” Hope the House and Senate assume this posture. At this writing Trudeau’s proposal is being debated. Unfortunately his proposal was quickly followed by a surge of gun sales which sems to occur after proposed gun laws.
    Japan has some of the strictest gun laws and lowest gun ownership in the world. Japan may be a special case. After WWII thousands of weapons were retrieved and destroyed and there was no national interest in replacing them. Excluding the military and police, acquiring a weapon (usually a hand gun) is a laborious process. It involves filing an application for a license to acquire a weapon. Felons or people with mental health problems need not apply. Further the process requires an instruction and training period and passing a written test. Extensive background checking by the police follows. No “Red Flag” here. Moreover the police have to be convinced the applicant has a very good reason to require a gun. Hunting requires its own different set of rigorous steps. The whole process takes about a year. A Japanese citizen was asked whether their gun laws restricted some freedom? The man responded: “Yes. But the price of some lost freedom was compensated by low rates of gun violence.” How bout that for common sense.
    Earlier in this account I identified other wealthy and democratic countries that had low rates of violent gun deaths per 100,000 people compared to the U.S.. Here are some of the scores: U.S. 3.77, France 0.5, India 0.32, Italy 0.30, Germany 0.14, U.K. 0.05. China 0.03, Japan 0.1. China is not a democratic country but I included it because of its large population size. Unfortunately we’re the unequivocal leader in regards to violent gun deaths. We were the only country to actually score over three people in gun deaths per 100,000
    A national poll responding to the question why does the U.S. have more mass shootings than many other countries identified more or easy availability of weapons at 54%. At least some people have got it right.
    It has been estimated that there are 390 to 400 million guns in the U.S. not including military and police. In 2019 10,250 people were murdered with a gun. In 2020 more than 45,000 citizens died from firearms. In the same year 4,368 children younger than 19 were killed.
    Suicide in the U.S. is a major or national public health issue. Our country has one of the highest suicide rates among wealthy nations In 2020 there were 24,000 recorded gun suicides. For all the “constitutional lawyers” out there where has your indignation been about the mental health of these desperate people before you decided that mental health “has undoubtedly been responsible for mass shootings.” Maybe you law abiding citizens should assume some responsibility for securing your sacred hand guns. That might help a little to reducing suicides by guns.
    Since 2007 more than 1500 people have been killed in more than 270 mass shootings. At this writing in 2022 266 mass shootings have occurred and we’re still counting additional shootings after the horrific massacre in Ulvade Texas, U.S.
    U.S. gun ownership, gun related homicides including suicides and mass killings yields 120 firearms per 100 people. The United States comprises 4% of the world’s population providing 31% of its mass killings from 1966 to 2012. It’s a wonder other countries accommodate our visits. Another boggling statistic. More than 741,000 machine guns were registered up from 457,000 at the end of 2010. Okay. I freely admit I was ignorant about Americans actually buying machine guns. Guess good old hand guns aren’t enough for our peace of mind to protect home and hearth. I woefully underestimated the degree of latent paranoia in our population.
    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 842 children younger than 18 died in firearm accidents or firearm suicides in 2020 and a larger number were injured. Still another terrible number.
    States with the lowest gun deaths had the strictest gun laws. Surprise! Does this sound familiar. States with the strictest Covid-19 lockdowns had the lowest infection rates. States with the highest vaccine rates had the lowest infection rates and deaths. Don’t want to hear that old saw again that correlation doesn’t mean causation. Science depends heavily on numbers to detect patterns. Go ahead. Ignore the numbers. You might be satisfied the numbers have no meanings, but are you willing to risk the health and welfare of your loved ones with these numbers?
    During the Covid-19 outbreak recall that many people asserted their constitutional rights not to wear masks. Must’ve missed that one when I read the constitution. I do not have a constitutional right to infect you. You do not have a constitutional right to infect me. We do not have a constitutional right to infect others. What can be done to turn off the faucet of our addictive gun culture?
    Up until June 2022 the U.S. Congress has proven unwilling or unable to pass substantial federal legislation to curb gun violence in America. They simply haven’t been up to the task which leaves many Americans wary of their efforts, discouraged and mistrustful they can accomplish anything meaningful. The Democrats have passed a framework and the Republicans are working on theirs. As you might expect there are some significant differences between the two parties. We the people might not get what we want, but our politicians have been put on notice, we demand a compromise law document as a first step. It deserves mentioning that a recent scientific model indicated that had the federal assault ban been in place for the whole period of study 1981-2017 it may have prevented 314 of the 448 deaths that occurred during the years in which there was no law.
    Other countries with firearm death rates significantly lower than ours are characterized by two important properties. All are committed to controlling easy access to firearms and are not emasculated by a non-political organization (NRA). They are not paralyzed for action by a constitution and a filibuster. Until the U.S recognizes, accepts and implements the verity of limited gun accessibility. Guns R us.

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...