The Chris Moeller Archives

Beware the good guys

One of the stories that caught my interest during the holidays was the one about the Sandy Hook-area newspaper that published the addresses and names of gun permit holders in their area. This is not a new journalistic idea. Des Moines’ alt-weekly, Cityview, did the same thing in our city several years ago, and then stared down the barrel, if you will, of angry gun owners.

The bold action this month by the Journal News (Westchester and Rockland, NY) was justified for two great reasons. Number one: Freedom of information. Possession of a gun permit is a matter of public record. The news outlet did not publish the names and addresses of people who own guns. They published the names and addresses of people with permits issued by the state, and the state is acting on behalf of the entire citizenry when it decides to issue one of these permits. Therefore, I have a right to know.

Number two: My right to feel safe in my home. This is the same argument made frequently by gun owners in favor of possession, but because I am not blind to statistics, I have come to recognize that the gun owner, even the “lawful” one, is somebody I need to fear as a neighbor. Most shooting deaths take place in the home. In homes with guns, a member of the household is almost three times as likely to be the victim of a homicide as somebody in a gun-free home, and for every firearm death in the United States, there are nearly three gun injuries requiring emergency medical attention. Furthermore, guns are not subject to health and safety regulations so we can't even be sure that guns, used properly, are safe. I live in an urban area, and there is no justifiable purpose for a gun here. Westchester, New York, is even further from rural than my city. I want to know if any of my neighbors are licensed to pack, and I don't want to just know who has them, but how many have them?

National Rifle Association top man Wayne LaPierre spoke out December 21st about the school shootings in Sandy Hook. His ludicrous solution: not more regulation, but more armed teachers and school staffers. In his words, the “good guys” need to have guns in order to fight the “bad guys,” but see, the “good guys” team shares the blame for Sandy Hook. A law-abiding, licensed owner of at least a dozen firearms, Nancy Lanza, failed to keep her guns safe from a close and dangerous family member, and those guns were used to murder 28 adults and children, including her. You say you're a law-abiding gun owner? I believe you. And I fear you. How can you prove to me you will keep your guns safe? "Bad guys" can't be trusted to steer from violence, and "good guys" can't be trusted to keep their guns away from "bad guys".

The United States Supreme Court has never overturned a gun control law, not even local community bans on the sale and/or possession of firearms. Every federal Court of Appeals that has ruled on the meaning of the Second Amendment has held that it protects the rights of the state to maintain a militia, not for the individual to own a gun. Owning a gun, therefore, is not a right, it's a privilege. And I want to know who is being granted the privilege in my community, and if I lived in a community that had just been terrorized by gun violence on such an epic scale, you could be damn sure I'd want to know.

posted by CM @ 8:43 PM