Sunday, June 18, 2023

American Carnage by Fred Guttenberg

This tries to bust the myths attached to gun control efforts in US. It goes point by point to highlight why all those myths (legal or otherwise) don't stand a chance in front of a fair scrutiny.

The book is rather short on narrative but does't have much chance to move anything because the most important factor which it is struggling against is the business of selling guns. The whole idea of lobbying in favour of gun rights and ease of availability should be called a charade in the name of business. But that is how the business works, right? It is a mad race to sale rather than thinking about after effects of goods sold.

Another failure of the book is that it goes a lot soft on the gun rights. It proposes a framework of background verifications and exclusion of assault weapons from civilian reach while it misses the main point of why any gun is lethal irrespective of its firing capacity. And that point is that how a gun takes the humanity out of these attacks and killing spree. It does point out that the idea of owning a gun can strike someone as an equalizer but can't tell equal to what.

It actually ends up sounding like that people who are sane enough or trained enough should have the right to own a gun but this thought befuddles the idea of why anyone in a civil society should have a gun. It should be the duty of police and other forces to maintain the law and order in a society and not just another person with a gun.

There is no political will to counter the gun arguments in US, and it is going to stay for a real long time.

Peace


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