Toward a gun-friendly society

I started a kerfuffle yesterday with a 2,660 word essay titled “America should consider adopting Israel’s ‘gun control’.” This was widely taken to be a position on adding government “gun control,” as liberals see it. Now that I’ve been roundly given the keel-haul by a variety of colleagues, including EIC JD Rucker and writer Ben Wilhelm, I’d like to have the last word. I promise to be short(er).
The reason I chose Israel was as a result of a discussion with JD about how to make the argument for a gun-friendly society. I see Israeli society as gun-friendly. In spite of the fact that the government has draconian rules, guns are a way of life in Israel. To be fair, the Israeli government would be considered to the left of California here–Israel is borderline full-on socialist in many ways, and as secular and liberal as Santa Clara County. I was not trying to make the argument that our government should be anything like Israel’s, although now I can understand why it might be read that way.
I am suggesting that our society should treat guns more like Israel, and that a far-left government can, in fact, embrace a gun-friendly society if it is a necessity.
Here’s how American society treats guns. Half our country, between the coasts and in the law enforcement community, is not at all freaked out by gun-toting people in stores, restaurants, and even churches. It’s part of life. The other half, in the cities mostly, is freaked out at the sight of a gun not on the belt of a uniformed officer or a military member. We may as well be two nations on this issue.
The problem is that in the cities and in other places where the gun-freaked-out people are, they spend money, eat food and do all the other things people do. Many of the companies that operate in the cities also operate in the gun-friendly areas. Insurance companies, corporate bean counters, and liberal pressure groups (which are FAR more well-funded than the NRA) fight to make all of America gun-free.
But America must be gun-friendly, because the Second Amendment is not going away, despite the fever dreams of liberals. Gun-friendly means a bit more expense and a bit less convenience for some people. It means that gun owners and Second Amendment rights advocates such as myself need to be aware that we share this land with people who are freaked out by guns, and think we shouldn’t have them. Incidents like the Pulse nightclub shooting and the Las Vegas massacre reinforce this bias.
Continued below…

Winning the culture war

There’s a widespread belief among conservatives that the left is irredeemably lost to big government, nanny-state, totalitarianism. I am not entirely convinced of this, especially when the left’s own oxen get gored (like unions supporting the Jones Act because it guarantees their jobs). The NFL, Target and other companies have felt the sting of playing hands where they had no winning cards in the poker game of our culture war.
With the issue of guns, and a little ingenuity, we can take on the culture and win.
Here’s where Israel came in. All retail establishments, most schools, and employers are gun-friendly in Israel. Not because of a right (again, Israel has no Bill of Rights as we know it–their government can and does interfere in religion, free speech, guns, and a whole raft of other issues), but because of necessity.

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A “safe gun” solution?

The left has demonized the NRA like people with consciences demonize Planned Parenthood (which deserves to be demonized since they are actually demonic). They have created and spread abominable lies around it. But what if we used technology to create a “safe gun” rating for people, companies and employers? What if we worked with small employers to create gun lockers for workers like Israel has, with security personnel overseeing (it doesn’t have to be a full-time security guard either).
What if we worked with public spaces to secure their premises in exchange for letting legal, and “safe gun” people carry there? This might include someone checking bags or randomly stopping people who look like they may be carrying, and check their ID.
This wouldn’t stop gun problems in the streets of Chicago or Baltimore. But those problems aren’t “gun” problems. They’re society problems where even the victims of violent crime refuse to work with police out of fear or a belief that the police are the enemy. Therefore they protect their own armed thug overlords. Gun laws can never solve that any more than they solve the radical Islam problem in Europe.
But a “safe gun” solution definitely could work in my home town, or yours. I’m tired of seeing “no guns” signs on businesses. I’m tired of lawmakers restricting where and when I can legally carry. In Georgia, a law called “HB60” fixed some of that–it’s what I was referring to when I mentioned carrying to drop of my kids at school. One of the main features of that bill was that government buildings can’t declare themselves no-carry zones unless they enforce it with security (metal detectors and guards). This is an excellent idea.
We could turn that on its head and make “safe gun” a program where businesses can welcome legal carry, but reserve the right to have security or other measures to keep the baddies out. This is where I might run into some objections.
A hotel like the Mandalay Bay should have a reasonable policy about guns, and should enforce it. That’s where Israel came in again. Why shouldn’t a public place have a “safe gun” policy that pistols and up to two magazines are welcome, but no more? Why does it have to be all or nothing? But that’s how many conservatives and Second Amendment supporters come off: all or nothing.

The Takeaway

I’ve owned guns since I was about 20 years old. I shot competitively in my younger days. I currently own guns, including AR-15s. I’m not in favor of restricting what we can or can’t own or buy. I am concerned about the commercial nature of the gun industry and retail segment in America, and I think too little attention is paid there by gun advocates and too much by the government.
We should burn down the straw-men and stop demonizing liberals. Some of them, like Rep. Seth Moulton, a former Marine, know about guns and still believe civilian gun owners aren’t responsible enough to trust with public safety. How do we change that perception? Certainly not by marching into restaurants with AR-15s, .45s on our hips and SKS rifles slung over our shoulders. But we typically cheer when people do that (hint: it’s dumb unless you are actually going hunting).
Guns should be what liberals want abortion to be: safe, legal, and whenever you want it. But we should address the concerns of those who freak out at guns by at least making an effort among our own establishments to develop standards and safety touchstones. Liberals have no problem flying with sky marshals. They (generally, except for some nutjobs) have no problem with armed police. We have to work to create a gun-friendly society, and lead by our example to the larger culture, before it’s too late.
It’s almost too late now. But I do think we can win.