Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Spoon Fulls of Bullets



Tomorrow’s headline should read: Spoons, leading cause of obesity for overweight Americans. The headline, although flawed in its validity, is the same argument used by most supporters of gun control. The objects themselves serve inherently different purposes, however both are lethal if wielded by the wrong hand.  The proposed gun regulations currently target the type of guns people can obtain. Instead, the regulations should govern what types of people can obtain the weapons.

Not everyone that uses a spoon is fat. It takes certain mindsets to produce obesity, all of which have nothing to do with the spoon itself. The same is true for a pistol. Legislation to ban the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition is currently being signed and debated by several politicians. In all fairness, guns such as the .223 caliber, Bushmaster AR-15 were recovered from the crime scenes of several mass shootings throughout the US. The fact that guns are dangerous will never be disputed, but focusing on laws that prohibit the availability of certain types of guns will not cure the dilemma of mass shootings in America.

More prevalent than any high-powered weapon or extended clip were the signs of mental illness displayed by each shooter prior to their incident. In fact, upwards of 38 out of the 62 mass shooters in America displayed signs of mental health problems prior to the killings. A large majority of the remaining individuals experienced some form of bullying, or recently lost their job.

Jared Loughner, who shot 19 people inside of a shopping center in January 2011, was known to make outbursts during his high school classes and often complained about hearing voices in his head.

As a country, we have failed those children in Sandy Hook and those innocent people in Loughner’s targeted shopping mall. How is it that someone who both voluntarily and involuntarily expressed signs of mental illness can casually walk into a store and purchase a weapon and ammo?  In fact, it is easier to purchase a gun in some American states than it is to vote.

Out of the 62 cases officially classified as mass shootings in America, 80% of the criminals purchased their guns legally.

This past Sunday afternoon, John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, mourned the loss of his long time friend Colorado prison chief, Tom Clements, as he also signed the legislation banning assault rifles. In the midst of heartache, emotional decisions are often the easiest.  Our nation allowed legislators to pass the Patriot Act following the September 11 attack out of emotion. We need to retreat from what is easiest and conduct the proper deliberation to formulate the best decision.

Who can blame anyone for wanting to fix a faltering system especially when the decisions we make today have the possibility of preventing the occurrence of other tragedies? However, if we must take anything away from crafty policy makers during the aftermath of 9/11, it should be that protecting our citizens is the number one priority, and number two is to protect our rights.

It is true that legislators who would like to assess gun violence in conjunction with mental illness are also currently being pressured into making a hasty decision. So, given the fact that there is a possibility that guns will be regulated, will those new regulations prevent mass murders. I assume that reasonable minds would venture to say, “no.”

 Just as spoons are not the cause of obesity, the rescindment of every spoon manufacturer would not prevent obesity either. Sure it may become slightly more difficult to kill people as quickly, it will not prevent the incidents caused by unstable and provoked people.

I myself was shot in the chest by a .22 caliber handgun in an incident at my USC apartment September 4, 2011. The bullet entered my chest piercing my lung and liver. The only reason I am alive is because that same bullet was slowed down by first piercing the middle finger of a girls whose hand was on my chest. If an individual has it out to shoot someone, whether or not the gun has a magazine size of 14, or 1,400, there is not much that can be done to protect that individual.

If legislation were to pass and another mass shooting were to occur, but this time the deranged criminal used nothing except handguns, where will the legislation stop?

I am personally reminded of the dangers of gun violence every time I take a labored breath. I just refuse to sit around blaming the gun for its magazine size. Attention needs to be focused on those that pull the trigger.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Can't Help but Watch


I used to wonder how many people would attend my funeral.  Now I wonder how many views my death would get if it happened to be captured on camera. Humans have always had an innate fascination with death, specifically dealing with the afterlife.  But what we are seeing today is reminiscent of ancient Rome with the barbaric crowds that filled the Flavian Amphitheater, also known as the Coliseum.  What are the affects of viral videos that spread on a daily displaying grotesque and demoralizing images for the world to view at leisure?

Have you ever questioned your need to satisfy your curiosity about a gory online video? Hovering your finger over the keypad, finally giving in with a guilty yet excited click. Your stomach cringes, then you again question why you were curious to watch the video in the first place. Just me? I refuse to believe so. In fact, there are hundreds of thousands, even millions who enjoy (I use the word loosely) watching the demise of others.  Studies have shown that the chemical released in the brain while watching a fight or scary scene are also what we call the flight or fight mechanism. Gradually our society has been desensitized to the sites sounds and even bodily reactions of deadly scenarios. Evidence of this feat can even be seen in the evolution of film in America. Movies that were once considered legitimately scary such as the 1958 premiere of The Blob have been replaced by movies similar to the Saw series and The Human Centipede.  For those unfamiliar with these movies, Saw is, the director, James Wan’s way of fulfilling his strange desire to dismember victims in the most horrendous fashions without actually completing the act. The Human Centipede is a movie about an evil doctor who decides it will be highly entertaining to sew the mouth of his victims to the anus of another, until he creates a centipede-like train of humans. The kick is, he only feeds the first victim, or the head of the train, allowing the rest of them to be fed through…I think you get the point.

The question I raise is where do we draw the line? Has our skin grown thick enough to where we can watch a real man go through the same ordeals online and feel no remorse?  America seems to be placed in a bubble free from reality similar to the story of Siddhartha. Siddhartha was once a rich prince in what would now be known as Nepal. He was pampered his entire life, drenched in his every pleasure. It was only until Siddhartha decided to escape the palace that he discovered a world filled with death, disease, and destruction, when he ultimately became enlightened. Siddhartha was transformed into whom we now call Buddha.  I compare America to the story of Buddha due to the world’s current state. Our nation is surrounded by the same conditions that were present during Siddhartha’s era. The same death, disease, and destruction can be found outside of America, as was his palace.  We have become desensitized to certain human emotions while viewing the brief online and television programs. When we see riots happening overseas we watch it just as casually as any other video that finds its way to our browsers.

I am apparently not the only one that has had this abstract idea. In 2008, a movie by the name of Untraceable was released to be more of a social commentary rather than a box office hit. The serial killer in this movie was Untraceable and actually did not kill anyone himself. Instead he created apparatuses that would kill victims only if people logged onto a website to witness the death. Of course, the humanistic intrigue with death killed multiple victims in this movie before he was finally obtained. Who is to blame, the killer or the killers? The Roman gladiators who were forced to fight to the death with wild animals, or crowds of people that came to watch? Boxing has been transformed into the UFC and a boring fight is one when no smelling salts or gurneys were used. I would say that our society might revert back to the days of ancient Rome, but at times we value the lives of animals more than humans.

It seems as though well-traveled individuals to different have a more cultured perspectives (always exceptions) and outside perceptions of America tend to be consistent. Not saying that we are the ones that kill the most or commit the most heinous atrocities, however we seem to be the main ones that enjoy watching it.