NRA, gun lobby peddling a politics of fear
The congressional Democrats’ sit-in to gather support for action on gun control measures is intended to focus our attention on the political meaning of the gun control debate. More is at stake in these debates than the right to obtain a firearm. The debate goes right to the core of our political and social values.
Polls indicate that over 90 percent of Americans favor some action by the federal government to limit access to military-style weapons like the AR-15 rifle. Even more favor measures that would prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing them. Most Americans understand that a decent respect for the lives of those who have died from the endless hail of bullets coming from these weapons demands a governmental response.
On the side of the congressional sit-in is thus a desire for responsive government that promotes a culture where the moral value of human life is respected.
The pro-gun lobby, on the other hand, peddles a politics of fear and promises inaction. It argues that banning the sale of military-style weapons to suspected terrorists would violate an important right of the terrorists – the right to own a weapon for self-protection guaranteed by the Second Amendment and protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. They argue that since the Terrorist Watch List is secret, and since there is no appeals process, suspected terrorists might be deprived of an important civil right to self-protection if a ban on sales of deadly weapons were to be imposed by Congress in order to protect the safety of American communities.
Their calculus is simple: The right to own a weapon for self-protection outweighs the safety of our communities, which the government is tasked with defending. In their twisted view, the Second Amendment allows the government to slip out of its obligation to protect the lives of its citizens by creating a culture where life is cheap and everyone is prepared to kill.
They will reject this analysis, of course. They will argue that the right to own a weapon is grounded in respect for life – at least respect for one’s own life, demonstrated through a rough and ready willingness to use lethal force for self-defense. But do we really want to create a society in which citizens are endlessly encouraged to be prepared to kill? One in which the value of human life depends on not interfering with someone else’s desire to feel secure and safe? Is it responsible for our politics to be founded on the belief that the moral meaning of human life depends on not being a perceived threat to someone else’s comfort zone?
The gun lobby’s spokesman, Wayne LaPierre, advocated this view on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last week, when he called for the majority of citizens to be always on edge, prepared at any moment to take a human life. His politics promotes a culture where the value of life is conditional and voidable. It is the politics of a violent people endlessly prepared to kill. It is a politics of fear that cannot create a common culture where all humans are welcome, even those whose lives are inconvenient or unwanted.
How can a nation of people share in a common purpose when their political leaders tell them to be endlessly ready to kill a neighbor at a moment’s notice? How can we learn to sacrifice a personal sense of security and comfort to care for an unwanted child, an elderly parent or a poverty-stricken beggar? Aren’t all of these people also threats who can be put down by the same calculus of violence and self-interest that views the value of life as something that can be callously forfeited?
Protecting the lives of the citizens is the government’s first responsibility, and those who would weaken the resolve of lawmakers in this regard, those who argue that gun owners should shoulder the burden of self-policing their own safety, profoundly misunderstand the fundamental social agreement of democracy. Readers of the English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes will be familiar with the gun lobby’s view – a war of all against all, where life is nasty, brutish and short. Theirs is the view of a broken society where fear and intimidation replace the hopes and dreams of a people for a future we share in common.
Kevin Lee is an associate professor of law at Campbell University. His opinions are his own.
This story was originally published June 25, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "NRA, gun lobby peddling a politics of fear."