road trip USA

guns n' moses

I Read The News Today, Oh Boy...

I mentioned in an earlier blog that it's hard for an Englishman in New York (or anywhere else in the USA) to keep up with Non-American news. The radio is hopeless, and the ordering of TV channels seems to be fiendishly random as I move from motel to motel. Add to that the problem that as one scans through the channels, there seems to be a roughly 50% chance of hitting an advert, and therefore being no more enlightened than before as to the content. However, I made a conscious effort last weekend to get a more coherent sense of what is occupying the American mind, in a news sense. I came away with four key findings.

Stormy Weather

...which I have already described in previous blogs: more particularly, the display of extremes is understandably keeping the newscasters on their toes. The tornado epidemic produces regular warnings, and today a new one has been added. A heatwave in the west - San Francisco had its hottest ever recorded May day at 94f. Overlaid on very heavy standing snowfields, this has produced a risk of major avalanches, and catastrophically rapid thaw floods.

China Crisis

Secondly, a bit of a breakthrough - sadly, in view of the context. I haven't yet seen one piece of news reported from Old Blighty (with one ridiculous exception - CNN somehow found time to report on the Hip Hop Dance Championship from Blackpool, or somewhere similar). However, there has at last been substantial coverage of something outside, and unconnected with the US: unfortunately it took the Chinese Earthquake Catastrophe to break this particular duck.

The other 2 items were on my list to mention: the American preoccupation with guns and religion.

For God and my Country

Of a Sunday, I lost count of how many earnest preachers looked me in the eye and demanded, with steadfast conviction, that I call toll-free to pledge my all to his or her particular interpretation of The Bible. Indeed, I did start to count, but lost my thread as I found other channels coming on line that I had previously counted as secular, and v.v. There is an interesting contrast between the relative property standings of the church(es) here, compared with the Church of England. Saddled with some of England's most beautiful, and expensive, buildings, the latter cannot to afford to maintain them, and this is posing English Heritage a tricky problem. It has the theoretical obligation (in fact it's more than theoretical, but it may not be be an entirely practical obligation) to insist that owners of important historic properties must spend to maintain them adequately. As (by far) the biggest single owner of such expensive properties, the Church of England simply cannot afford the cost implied by this statutory obligation. Obviously it is not helped by its falling and ageing roll-call of parishioners.

By contrast, the churches here in the US seem to be thriving, at least judging from my anecdotal evidence of visiting one very active church, stepping inside a few others, and observing countless new and/or smartly maintained churches (all seemingly bearing a slightly different brand name). Perhaps that is part of the solution: devolve power to the local church elders and congregations, so that the local entity either sinks or swims under its own impetus. It is, I suppose, a very American philosophy. Get financially straight, or go under.

Son of a Gun

The other news item I shall mention honours one of my obligations under the List of Ten. The American love affair with the Gun. One has to acknowledge that the Right to Bear Arms was formulated when citizens were under the oppressive rule of a foreign power: when their opportunity for freedom depended largely on their ability and willingness to mobilise in militias. Guns were essential protection against wild animals, outlaws and raiding indians (even if we now view the perspective of those indians rather differently). And it is hard to imagine just how frighteningly different life would be with no police force. When the law was to a large extent in the hands of those who could bring most force to bear.

In support of the Gun Lobby, Condi (Rice) has just reminded me that it's not so long ago that black people needed to own guns to defend themselves, as the police would not (or could not be relied upon to) do so. Whilst obviously true, that doesn't make the argument relevant now. I might just as well argue that it was, within living memory, the sworn duty of Englishmen to kill all Germans wearing helmets. Despite being true, one hopes that we have moved on somewhat with conditions now being different.

When the right to bear arms was enshrined in the US Constitution, your average settler could load his gun and fire it once within a couple of minutes, if he was quite proficient, and if his powder wasn't wet. Furthermore, he might hit an advancing bear/outlaw/redcoat at close quarters - again, if he was a reasonable shot. Even the best drilled soldiers could only fire 2, or at best 3 shots per minute.

Today, a private citizen, despite enjoying the protection of armed state and federal police, FBI agents, and National Guard, can nevertheless assemble sufficient automatic weapon firepower to take on that whole regiment of imaginary redcoats, and take them all down. Over the past 3 weeks, I have talked with a number of US citizens on vacation, and of course, that includes several who enjoy hunting. Even those who would not wish to see their hunting curbed are all agreed that there can be no justification for private citizens to hold hand guns. These are not used for hunting purposes. At least if hand guns were banned, their involvement in both crime and accidents would diminish over time. Sure: the criminal can go to work with a hunting rifle - but it is much harder to conceal, and his intent is clearer much earlier.

The Child is Gone

Three local news items caught my attention last week: I stress these were local news - implying that as national news doesn't cover these items, a) they are not sufficiently newsworthy, and b) these tragic stories must be being repeated in other localities.

~ Father shoots 14 year old son whilst turkey hunting - mistaking his son's crashes in the bushes for those of a turkey.

~ Mother shoots 8 year old child whilst unloading her handgun.

~ A father weeps as he describes how careful he has always been to unload his handgun: but his 4 year old nevertheless found the gun and shot himself.

These were all fatalities. I guess the parents had never watched Bowling for Columbine.

Quiz: how many children die each year in the USA of gunshot wounds?

  1. 250
  2. 1000
  3. 2000
  4. 3000+

If you want to know the answer, click here - child gunshot death rate

There were a further 17,000+ non-fatal gunshot injuries in the 0-19 age group in 2007. Support the Brady Campaign for sensible gun controls.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sweet Child of Mine ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Ute Indians had it right...

I have to say that researching this has been quite depressing, and I imagine that, for you, reading it has also.

I think I need a holiday...

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