"The Debate About Gun Ownership/GunControl is a Diversion to Reality"

Ever since the massacre occurred in the white suburb of Newtown, Connect at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the country has gotten all up in arms (no pun intended) about gun violence and gun control. When all of this was going on I kind of just stood back and took in all of the arguments, debates and emotional acting out that was brought on not only by shooting but also by the very thought of there being a governmental attack on some people’s right to bare arms. The conversation about stricter gun laws (which is the diversion) has people choosing sides and holding protests against the government all over the country. I, for one, do not see what the fuss is all about. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Also, creating tougher gun laws will not stop people from using guns to kill people. The best example of this would be Columbine, Virginia Tech, Colorado, and now Connecticut. However, I guess because the folks who make up these states that have killed so many of their own kind and at one time has created this mad dash to action in order to get something done to make sure that shooting incidents of this “kind” won’t ever happen again in these “special” places in America.


However, on the other hand, gun violence has been a “normal” occurrence in the inner and urban cities across America (the real issue) where a lot of Blacks and Hispanics happen to live and I have yet to witness a mad dash call to action to bring an end to gun violence these areas. Moreover, these shootings were rarely given any press in the media because the assumption about Black life in America is the same as it was when Africans were kidnapped and brought to America in 1555 for the purpose to chattel slavery and to build this country into the economic powerhouse that is today. What’s really sad about this attitude is that too many Black people today have even taken on the same cognitive dissonance attitude as the majority population in regards to the “goings on” of the inner city. The lives lost in the inner city are not that important to mainstream America except for when it needs some “urban” talents to steal and exploit in the entertainment business. Should there ever be any so-called new gun laws, the people who have actually gone through the process of properly registering all of their guns and who have gone through process of educating themselves on gun safety, these supposed new laws will not affect you. However, just like the Republican led war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990’s, these supposed new gun laws will mainly affect the people living in the inner-cities of America. People, its crime and punishment 101, American style.


The jails will be filled with the young urban violators of these supposed new gun control and/or ban on assault weapons laws. The guns that get into the inner-city which are ultimately used to continue the raging gun violence probably comes from legitimate gun owners. I just find it to be so amazing how so many people are so able to just be led like sheep. I mean, where is the analytical thinking? Where is critical thought? The NRA is not going allow this government to just manhandle the millions of legitimate gun owners and gun enthusiasts in this country. The NRA is a big lobbying entity on capital and it has a lot of politicians (Reps. & Dems) on its political payroll. The protests and the mad dashes should be to a solution to end the self-hatred that permeates the “hoods” of America. The young Black male is about experience a wave of attacks from local and federal policing agencies that he has not really experience since the war on drugs in this country was in full swing.


So, church leaders, community leaders, non-profits, and most importantly PARENTS of these young men in the city you all better take notice. It’s coming. If you don’t want your son killed or sentenced for 10 years for a carrying a concealed bee-bee gun, you need to get on your jobs and work your asses off to make sure that this message reaches your angry son’s brains. Therapists, social workers, counselors need to be on stand by for a possible over flow of young men finally coming into your office or agency for counseling. As a social worker and mental health professional, I have dedicated years on the preventive end to prevent young men and women from “acting out” their aggression in society. All this does is set them up to be exploited and hidden away in the criminal justice system. Step away from this senseless debate on gun control and step up to the task of physically rescuing our children from random acts of violence.