New Zealand's swift response highlights U.S. firearms deadlock
Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand, hosts diverse communities of the native Maori people, descendants of European settlers and migrants. But last Friday, a mass shooting at two mosques leaving at least 50 people dead broke its tranquility.
The worst ever attack in the Country's modern history has brought the issue of gun control back to the fore of global consciousness while implicating white supremacy, mass immigration and social media in a scheme of hate, all in a Country where guns are allowed.
news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern immediately promised that the Country's gun law would change. She fulfilled her promise only six days after the heart-wrenching tragedy by sweeping a news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new ban on sales of assault, semi-automatic rifles and large ammunition magazines. It's been hailed as the "fastest response ever by a government after a tragedy."
The Country's swift action stands in stark contrast to the U.S.' usual "thoughts and prayers" following a shooting massacre. Since the day of the bloody Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, 1,981 mass shootings have taken place across the U.S. But conservatives are reluctant to write gun control into law.
People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand, March 18, 2019. /VCG Photo
Guns have a special place in the American psyche. It was guns that allowed the first colonists from England to stake their territory on land inhabited by Native Americans. It was guns that allowed the colonists to form militias when they fought for independence against their English masters. Without such weapons, organization and a spirit of defiance, many felt that a ragtag bunch of settlers would have been no match for the British army. Although many factors contributed to their victory, weapons have since been associated with American independence, indispensable to maintaining individual liberty.
Years after its founding, some ventured beyond the original British colonies. Those itching for their own land and opportunities headed west, traversing the modern-day Midwest and up to the West Coast. The U.S. allowed frontier justice during their expansion into territory that was inhabited by others such as the Native Americans, the Spanish and the French. Since laws would barely be enforced and safety not guaranteed in such barren or sparsely inhabited land, settlers had to look out for themselves. Guns once again proved their usefulness, especially against the indigenous peoples, whose long-range weapons consisted primarily of bows and arrows.
Illustration of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1622. /VCG Photo
So the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protecting the right to bear arms is tied to the American character and embedded in the Country's collective memory. Even now, guns are popular in the South, used for purposes such as recreational hunting and shooting on the range. More tellingly, perhaps no symbol in recent history has been more potent as a defender of the Country's gun rights than the National Rifle Association (NRA).
The organization was founded in 1871, and even touched on politics throughout the early 20th century. However, it wasn't until a candidate that it endorsed assumed the U.S. presidency that it became a domestic political force. That man: Ronald Reagan. Combined with its singular and clear mission to protect gun ownership, it continues to mobilize many to the booths to vote to the tune of the NRA.
Its influence has even transcended domestic boundaries to tackle the UN when the latter tried to pass the Arms Trade Treaty in 2013 banning sales of weapons to governments committing genocide or war crimes. UN's legislative attempt to get the U.S. on board fizzled after it couldn't pass Congress.
Seven thousand pairs of shoes, representing the children killed by gun violence since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, are spread out on the lawn on the east side of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, March 13, 2018. /VCG Photo
The NRA has appealed to the gun as a way of life with tremendous success. It has a channel called NRATV, launched in the same year, where it touts messages such as "socialists" wanting to take away guns and the need for firearms in the face of rampant crime and terrorism. The channel even broadcasts reality shows such as showing women hunting with and using their guns for personal protection. The organization also spends huge sums to lobby and endorse politicians for office, such as in 2016, when it poured about 55 million U.S. dollars into campaigns, most notably that of Donald Trump.
Regardless of whether the NRA is protecting gun interests for money or out of the belief in the weapon as a way of life, for the average American firearms lover, the message is clear: stay away from my gun.
"We must follow news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand's lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States," tweeted Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who announced a presidential run last month. However, given the deeply intertwined interests between the Congress and the NRA, gun control and research by the government continues to look like a pipe dream.
The only substantial act of the U.S. on gun control dates back to 1994 when the federal government issued a ban on military-style assault weapons. But the act, though prohibiting the manufacture, transfer, or possession of "semiautomatic assault weapons," did not require owners of those firearms to deliver the guns. What's more, the act expired in 2004.
What followed was 15 years of political stalemate. As long as those who want gun control are unable to unite into a determined political bloc that challenges the doggedness of the faithful gun owner, lives will be subordinate to the ideology.
