1998-05-05
Charlton Heston, who played Moses in Cecil B. De Mille's pompous and boring "10 Commandments" has just been elected President of the National Rifle Association.
Charlton Heston claims he was a liberal back in the 1950's and early 60's. He was in favor of the civil rights movement. Then it all got out of hand he became an arch-conservative. The NRA hopes the luster of Moses will revive the somewhat sagging fortunes of the NRA, which has lost more than 500,000 members in the past two years.
The NRA only has about 2.5 million members, yet they virtually dictate U.S. policy in regard to gun regulation, because they have the big bucks. The NRA fought tooth and nail against Clinton's efforts to ban the importation of assault rifles.
I'm not going to waste my time making a case against virtually unrestricted gun sales, which the NRA advocates. Only an idiot would believe we are safer if everyone has a gun than if no one has a gun. Shall I repeat it? Yes, it sounds harsh, but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade: only an idiot would believe that we are safer if everyone has a gun than if no one has a gun.
John Sayles recently produced a brilliant movie that dramatizes better than almost any other what the meaning of a gun is. If Jesus were here today, I think he would say something like "anyone who buys a gun has already committed murder in his heart".
That said, I am not totally unsympathetic to those who buy a hand-gun out of fear and keep it next to the bed. The truth is, American's have made their bed: they have made guns readily available to everyone. They have created a sick, ultra-competitive, violent society, and now they have to deal with it. American culture constantly hammers home the message that if you are poor or unemployed or on welfare, you are a valueless parasite and a worthless human being. I sometimes think they will never solve the gun problem-- it's too late.
But the politicization of gun control can be changed.
A few years ago, a man came home to his house, heard a noise in a closet, flung the door open and shot whoever was in there. It turned out to be his own daughter, who died in his arms.
Well, hey, anybody can make a mistake. What bothers me about this case, however, is the fact that the man was never even charged with careless use of a firearm. Similarly, a Japanese student was shot to death when he walked up someone's driveway to ask for directions to a party. You could, maybe, argue that it wasn't quite the same thing as first degree murder, but the killer was not even charged with negligence. What if he had run him over instead, while drunk or drugged? Do people actually believe that such negligence is more criminal than firing a handgun at a stranger walking up your driveway before you have the slightest idea of what he wants?
The most offensive irony of all this is the large number of fundamentalist Christians who support these insane gun laws and yet call themselves "pro-life".
"Moses" should take a few tablets himself and start rereading his scriptures. Or did I miss the verses where Jesus tells his disciples to travel light, preach the good news to the poor, and pack a .45.
The satirical Arrogant Worms had it right:
"Wouldn't it be
great if everybody had a gun?.
Wouldn't it be great if everybody had a gun?
No one would ever get shot,
'cause everybody would have a gun
Wouldn't it be great if everybody had a gun..."
The sad part is that some people would take those lyrics seriously.
© Copyright 1998 Bill Van Dyk