THE LONG VIEW: Right to bear arms, okay; right to safe environment, absolutely

Pat Grime copy.jpg

It is said there are two subjects best avoided in polite company: politics and religion. At the risk of raising someone’s ire, allow me to add to that list by mentioning guns.

I do not come from a gun ownership tradition. Friends and relatives are hunters and I tried my shaky hand at the Boy Scouts shooting range years ago, but that's my entire exposure to guns.

It is said there are two subjects best avoided in polite company: politics and religion. At the risk of raising someone’s ire, allow me to add to that list by mentioning guns.

I do not come from a gun ownership tradition. Friends and relatives are hunters and I tried my shaky hand at the Boy Scouts shooting range years ago, but that's my entire exposure to guns.

There are others for whom firearm ownership is an important part of their lives. Perhaps these folks come from a long family custom of gun owning. I'll bet plenty of them put food on the table by hunting. There are surely those who feel safer packing a piece.

Given my unfamiliarity to (and, hence, my unease with) gun culture, I imagine I’d feel better about some venues at this year’s National Rifle Association’s convention in Nashville more than others.

Bob Owens, editor of gun-rights website BearingArms.com writes, “The NRA… requires that attendees follow the federal, state, and local laws applicable in that city… attendees can indeed carry firearms in the Music City Center with the proper license in accordance with Tennessee law. Bridgestone Arena prohibits the possession of firearms, and always has. Attendees to the concerts held there are not allowed to carry weapons according to these pre-existing laws."

What is more, the 80,000 convention attendees will be admiring a multi-acre gun display of weapons that have had their firing pins removed. It would seem the NRA, who screams bloody murder at the gentlest suggestion of regulations on firearm ownership, somehow sees the wisdom of restricting access to functioning guns at this very public gathering. 

After all, it would damage the gun lobby's credibility to have anything accidental or sinister occur at their annual gunfest. As the list of speakers demonstrates – Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Lindsey Graham – this get-together is as much about consolidating political power as it is the celebration of things that shoot.

Still, even without firing pins, gun lovers will have lots to discuss, like Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature on that state’s new law eliminating the 8-hour training course once required for legal firearm ownership. 

This is baffling. When a projectile exits the barrel of a weapon, a life could be at stake. There is comparatively little on the line when barbers, hairstylists, and nail techs do their job, but you can bet Kansas requires a lot more than eight hours training for them to wield scissors and emery boards.

Lastly, to the faction who feels it important to exercise open-carry rights of brandishing a weapon, please do so elsewhere. I don't know you, but I do understand what could happen if there was an accident or ill intent. If I see you with one, I am leaving wherever we both are. 

I don’t want to take away anyone's gun, but given the culture’s casual stance on weapons training and distribution, I don’t want to be anywhere near yours.

 

Pat Grimes, a former South Bay resident, writes from Ypsilanti, Mich. He can be reached at pgwriter@inbox.com