Compromise elusive on gun rights

As expected, the debate and discourse has turned to gun ownership in the wake of the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 8 that claimed the lives of six people and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords along with several others in a grocery store parking lot.

Also as expected, the debate and discourse are as rancorous as ever. So much for the vaunted “civility” that was hoped for following this tragedy. Discussion is trigger temperamental concerning the Second Amendment.

It’s back to where we started, which means no one is willing to compromise or agree about what to do with America’s guns.

I’m not against the Second Amendment, which is a perfectly reasonable amendment to have in our Constitution. In sum, the Second Amendment states, ” A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

And I don’t like tyrannical governments anymore than the next guy or gal does. So having the right to keep and bear arms certainly gives the ordinary citizen considerable leverage in the face of government tyranny.

But — and this is a big but — American extremists have failed to understand, or have arbitrarily assumed because the Second Amendment says citizens can bear arms, that means you’re entitled to your own arsenal, that you can use any kind of weapon you want any way you want.

Today’s extremists aren’t fighting or defending themselves against King George of England. Nor do we have a dictator system, or divine monarch who should, rightly, be opposed.

No. Could it be the extremists, who suffuse the meaning of the Second Amendment with their own intolerant interpretation, are just plain mad that a black man, Barack Obama, is president of the United States? So let’s get some guns and overthrow him, that’s what they want. It’s a damn shame that a lot of American citizens who should know better want to get rid of Obama just like the extremists do.

Another disconcerting point championed by extremists in our country is how owning guns is a worthy deterrent against the robber who will invade your home, the government forces that will drag you off to jail, or the monster hiding in the bushes that can be stopped by a hail of bullets.

But what these extremists believe, in all their paranoia, is that anyone outside of themselves is the enemy.

So extremists start using their personal firearms against anyone or anything they don’t like.  Make no mistake, although Rep. Giffords’ assailant was suffering from mental illness, there is evidence that she was his target. It can be said that Jared Loughner was influenced to use his Glock to kill others based on political differences with Giffords and perhaps the United States government.

Did you know that the United States of America tops the list of guns per person throughout the world? Are you aware that the runner-up nation that is as heavily armed as America is happens to be Yemen — an unstable country and often a terrorist sanctuary?

Figures provided by the 2007 Small Arms Survey state that for guns per 100 residents, the U.S. comes in at 88.8. Yemen’s statistic is 54.8 guns per 100 residents. Having so many guns in so many households in America is a dubious distinction. And with Yemen coming in a close second, that says volumes about the company we keep — on the issue of owning guns, that is.

Believe me, extremists and their supporters, such as Sarah Palin, who has a “target” map showing Giffords’ congressional district as one that should be “attacked” (for the record, Giffords’ Tucson office was vandalized before the shooting took place) — are well aware of the inflammatory nature of their remarks.

Palin and her ilk can defend themselves all they want, they can point to their rights with the Second Amendment every time the subject of guns comes up. We can go around and around talking about who should and should not have guns and how they should be used.

Yet as we discourse, debate and defend, 80 people will die everyday from guns in America. That’s one sobering statistic, isn’t it? But is it enough to sober up the people who own the more than 100 million handguns in the U.S.?

Jodeane Albright is the community editor of the Idaho State Journal.