I’m a conservative, but I’m also a Californian, so a lot of the redneck stereotypes don’t really apply. Maybe because of this, it took me 19 years to shoot a gun.
This changed when I started my first year of college. I met new friends who had guns and expertise to share. Halfway through my first quarter at UCLA, they took me to the LAX Firing Range to see just how American I really am.
Sheepishly, I approached the lane, and picked up a shotgun for the first time. Despite my nerves, I didn’t break the gun, miss the target or dislocate my shoulder from the kick.
The moment was brief but hardly anticlimactic. It felt powerful, exciting and oddly therapeutic. It was fun, and I’ve been told that I maintained a dorky grin for the remainder of the day.
Since that first day with my first shotgun, my confidence has grown and my aim has improved (albeit not, you know, a lot).
Because of this newfound confidence and enjoyment, I was almost offended when April 21, the Daily Bruin ran a column in favor of gun restriction.
“The culture of firearms in America has proven dangerous, considering the gross irresponsibility exhibited by certain gun owners,” it read.
I wonder if advocates of extreme gun control have ever taken part in this culture they rail against. Perhaps if they had, they would realize that the locations and mind-sets within it are possibly the least dangerous places a person could be.
At the range, owners and employees go above and beyond to ensure that the environment is safe and secure. They, like many ranges, also offer proficiency classes to help maintain safety outside their walls. The staff and their patrons know that shooting for recreation or skill must be a controlled activity. They are responsible, perfectly normal citizens.
Thus, complaints against firearms are unfair in their generalization. The people they focus on are not conventional American citizens. They are murderers ““ a minute fraction of the population ““ made that way by selfishness or psychosis, not the weapons they hold.
The page also had a very large photograph of a protest sign reading “Remember VT.” Oh, I do remember VT.
Two weeks ago, we observed the anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. It is difficult to imagine anyone who does not remember VT.
I remember 17 people had gunshots wounds. I remember six people were injured after jumping out of buildings two stories up. I remember 27 students and five staff members died. I remember all these figures exclude the shooter himself, but, as I remember, he took his own life. And I remember no one stopped him.
I hope you’ll pardon the cliche, but if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
The government does take drastic measures to do just that. They constantly chip away at our constitutionally given rights to create a fantasy of safety.
Even before the shooting, Virginia Tech was a gun-free zone. Though the Virginia legislature entertained the idea of relaxing these blanket bans, a smiles-and-sunshine illusion was deemed more important. The campus maintained its ban.
You know what else has been banned? Recreational marijuana. Underage drinking. Driving fast. That doesn’t stop weekends in Westwood from happening.
And existing gun restrictions didn’t stop Virginia Tech from happening.
According to a story on PBS.org, a common way a criminal obtains his gun is from a friend ““ one with clean credentials who purchases the gun for him. The legal stores or federal firearms licensees break no laws themselves. The criminals do not respect the laws. Go figure.
But the so-called “culture of firearms” isn’t the cause of the problem. It’s a way out. Creating a true culture of firearms could protect American citizens from dangers.
I spoke to a manager at the Angeles Shooting Range. He told me that firearm proficiency, not restrictions, will make America safer.
Sadly, he would not comment further. Upon hearing that I am a college student, he became terse and uncooperative. But I can’t blame him for his brevity. Many young people are opposed to gun freedoms and routinely attack his beliefs and his livelihood. Of course he is on his guard.
Many insist that what the country needs is further limitation and stigmatization. Instead, the relentless vilification of a constitutional right and traditional activity must end.
If you’d like to shoot off some opinions on this matter then e-mail Bowers at kbowers@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.