Gunplay American Style

The headlines were as big as Texas south of the border today - Congress Passes New Legal Shield for Gun Industry. President Bush said that he looked forward to signing the bill, which would "further our efforts to stem frivolous lawsuits." "As of Oct. 20, the Second Amendment is probably in the best shape in this country that it's been in decades," exclaimed Wayne Lapierre, of the National Rifle Association.

Now, some may claim that certain ramblings on these pages have leaned a little to the left, which I have to admit is probably accurate. So it would only be natural to expect this entry to be a rather long winded rant expressing disgust at yet another right wing atrocity.

Well, the last thing I want around here at Dave’s Digglings is predictability, so mothers cover your children’s ears ‘cause I’m saddling up and rootin’ for Texas! Despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of the NRA (“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people?” Give me a break! In the words of Eddie Izzard, “I think the gun helps…”), I can’t really argue with this one. In fact, the basic premise of the argument applies to a number of hot topics in today’s media, including cigarettes and obesity. But, let’s stick to our guns for the moment.

The intent of the bill is to prevent people from trying to sue gun manufacturers for manufacturing guns. That’s it – plain and simple. There are a number of cases currently in the courts in the US where victims of horrible crimes are trying to prevent the same from happening to others. I applaud their efforts, but their method is flawed. They are taking action against gun manufacturers because guns are used to murder people.

Murder must be a most horrible experience for the victim’s loved ones. I say must be because I can only imagine. It would be wonderful if there was a way to prevent guns from getting into the hands of murderers in the first place. The murderer-to-be would be a lot less effective if he was restricted to jumping out in front of his victims and yelling “bang!” (thanks again Eddie). Yet, that doesn’t give anyone the right to take it out on the manufacturer of the weapon.

Hair spray and aerosol deodorant can be used to launch potentially lethal projectiles from home made devices. No matter how much we all feel that hairspray should be just as illegal as fifty year old people wearing spandex, you can’t sue Clairol because Jim-bob knocked out your dog with a potato gun. (OK, that’s not really an applicable argument because the hairspray is not being used as intended, but I just couldn’t resist the gag.)

The real issue is this - it is not illegal for a gun manufacturer to make a gun. Yes, guns can kill and hand guns can be concealed, but in the US making the gun is not against the law. If there was a law in place that said a gun manufacturer would be held liable for how their product was used, I suspect they’d quickly get out of the business and start making some much less deadly products, like cigarettes or fatty foods, for example. But as it stands today, you can’t sue someone if you don’t have the grounds to do so, or at least you shouldn’t be able to, and that’s what this new bill states.

However, to those trying to find a way to reduce the number of crime related fatalities in the US, I say don’t give up just yet. All you need is to come up with a different approach, one that involves changing the psyche of the entire nation. Somehow, you’ll have to find a way to rip the assault weapons and mini death pistols from the dead cold hands of the NRA, and convince the law makers that such items have no place in today’s society. And that will be no easy task in a nation where it is considered perfectly normal to teach pre-schoolers how to “play” with guns.