When I was growing up, guns were an everyday part of my life. We lived in the middle of 3200 acres of wooded land, and we were poor. My father was a hunter, and he shot deer, ducks, pheasant, quail, rabbits, wild turkey, geese, and probably a few things I don't know about or remember. Meat didn't come from the grocery store, it came from the freezer in the barn.
Beyond hunting, my father loved competitive target target shooting for the sport of it. He owned handguns, and he took the time to teach both my mother and me how to shoot accurately and safely. My parents belonged to a gun club, and their friends were people--often couples--who also competed. I remember at least twice going to the National Pistol matches in Camp Perry, Ohio for our summer "vacation." It was a far cry from roller coasters at Cedar Point, but as an only child, I didn't know the difference.
Did anyone get upset about a six-year-old shooting at targets? Not that I remember. Even when I was a teenager, shooting trap and skeet with my father, did anyone suggest anything improper was going on? Of course not.
Nearly sixty years later, I am looking back on those childhood experiences and trying to figure out what changed to make guns the ongoing public health problem they are today. I've been looking for a way to explain why guns, which were a vital part of American frontier life for so long, are now an anachronism. Other than a few traditional hunters and the family farmers who must protect their livestock, the media has made us believe that the only people who use guns are criminals and people who are mentally incompetent.
From working in the gun shop my father started when I was ten, I remember names of maybe fifteen gun manufacturers. The top of the line was Colt, Smith and Wesson, and Remington, followed by Winchester, Browning, Ithaca, Hechler and Koch, Mossberg, and some others. Today the list of American gun manufacturers is much longer, and the number of guns produced is greater than it was in the past. But there is also a strong aftermarket for used guns that no one really sees. That's where the real problems begin. Unlike used cars, used guns that are used sparingly and cared for will last indefinitely.
There is no real way to account for all the guns that exist in the U.S. Some of them came home with men leaving the military; some of them were passed from grandfather to father to son and further; some are sold on a handshake and exchange of money, with no record of the sale at all. Often people who are flush with money see a gun as an investment, one they can sell when they need money in the future. Stop in at any gun show, and take a look.
When my father owned the gun shop, we attended a gun show almost every weekend. It worked like this: Daddy would set up our display at an eight foot table, tell Mom and me what to ask for each item, and we stayed to watch the table and talk to potential customers. He, on the other hand, would make the rounds of other dealers' tables, looking for good buys, potential trades, telling other dealers what was at his table, and making contacts for future business. Guns shows usually took place in a hall where there was coffee and food available, but not many other kids. Even though I took a book to read, I was bored.
My father was never bored, either at or after a gun show. He usually came away with a roll of cash, a few less guns, and often some new items he felt would go well in the store. Even then, he and his cronies would talk about how government regulations were making it hard for the honest gun dealer.
They would also talk about their other cronies, the not-so-honest ones who were pushing the limit of the law. Unfortunately, when I was in college, Daddy joined that second group, and that was the end of his gun business.
In my search to determine why guns have become a negative influence in American life, I am forced to acknowledge the great changes that have taken place in the past 60 years: there are more Americans, and more of them live in urban areas; Americans are ethnically more diverse than they have ever been before; fewer marriages are intact, so many children grow up in a home with only one parent; more mental-health issues are dealt with on an outpatient basis; media culture, including movies, videos, video games, and network TV offers increasing examples of unrelenting violence; and technology has, in a very short time, changed the ways we communicate. All of these reasons -- and this is not an exhaustive list -- have changed the way guns are regarded and used in American life.
Consider how the American gun compares to the American automobile.
More than 100 years ago, the horse, which had carried us for years, became passe as the first motorized vehicles rolled off the assembly line and became available for anyone who had the money. People bought cars, taught themselves to drive, and quickly realized several things: cars would need repairs; cars would sometimes collide, causing damage and injury; and sometimes cars would be stolen. Out of those realizations grew local car repair shops and automobile insurance. Insurance companies, looking to reduce the number of collisions, supported the idea of driver training, driver licenses, and regular car inspections. When the states realized they could make money from car registration, new car dealers soon were responsible for registering the cars they sold. Cars sold second hand would also have to have their registration changed or risk fines. States began annual car inspections, too, to ensure that the cars on the road were safe.
For years, Americans "made do" with single-shot weapons, but not everyone had a gun or needed one. In time for the Civil War, the repeating rifle made its entrance, but even those rifles were not a necessity for the average American. By WWI we had machine guns, but only for fighting wars, and by World War II, we had even-faster machine guns holding even more ammunition. Hunters had shotguns and bolt-action rifles, police had sidearms, and target shooters had pistols with adjustable sights for competition. With a strong military, no American (literally) needed a gun for protection, and most gun sales were to the military or other countries. There was little reason to insist on registration for all guns, although newly purchased handguns had to be registered. Background checks were minimal at best. Americans believed in their Second Amendment right to own a gun if they wanted to, but no one saw gun ownership as vital.
What changed?
In 1965, the Civil Rights Act was passed, initiating a change in balance of social power in the U.S. Although Martin Luther King preached non-violence, racially-inflamed riots became a regular occurrence. Suddenly, people wanted guns to protect their homes and families.
In 1968, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated. Gun violence led to more Americans feeling that they had to defend themselves.
In 1970, the killing of four Kent State students by the National Guard. The students were protesting the very unpopular Vietnam War. Violence in the U.S. led to more fear.
In 1974, media revealed that the Republican party funded a break-in of the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., leading the the impeachment of President Nixon. From this time forward, media has a stronger influence in American life and politics.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s the mental health philosophy in America changed. Politicians believed that government could not support in-hospital treatment for mental illness, so most were placed in society for treatment with drugs. With more mentally ill people on the streets, fear in the U.S. grows.
In 1991, the U.S. begins a war in Iraq.
In 2001 semi-automatic weapons are easily obtainable for most Americans.
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