It is a dance we Americans have familiarized ourselves with and have become pretty good at since the Columbine High School massacre: One or more distraught gunmen and several or more victims. A school or theater in sanguinary peril. A storm of grief that floods the community and ends up briefly affecting the whole nation. Trivial debates on whether to mention the killer’s name or pretend he is (because, yes, it is always a he) Lord Voldemort. The urge to have the memory of the victims take precedence over the memory of the perpetrators. The manning of the battle stations as pro-gun proletarians exchange fire with those burghers who demand more regulation. A speech from the governor, and if the stars are aligned properly, a head-nodding indie-pop hit about the massacre. In the end, no change in policy occurs, and the timer is reset to mark the seconds from the last blasting till the next one.
If I’ve missed a step, it’s because this part of American culture has eluded me for quite some time. I’m finally getting properly tuned into American culture 3.0. I’ve figured out ironic tattoos and the craft-beer craze. The regressive political correctness of college towns took me a while, but I came along eventually. Fast food and cool cars were the genesis of my American-culturing ever since I had a badass set of Hot Wheels and my mother was too tired from work to cook. But gun culture (and the carnage that comes with it) is a hard one to understand and even harder to stomach.
Maybe because I never grew up shooting or because I didn’t have the Second Amendment framed and hung up next to Christ on the cross, but I’ve never really gravitated toward purporting this faction of American boisterousness. One thing is for sure: It would be impossible for me to assimilate in doing so now. Gun culture may be American, but it’s still foul.
With a myriad of other matters concerning our rights as Americans (e.g. voting or keeping money from politics), the Second Amendment has still found itself as the poster child for patriots who know nothing about the Constitution but "value their rights" and rugged individualism. Rugged individualists with Facebook and Twitter accounts espouse the dangers of gun control, and every thrice in a while compare the want for background checks to steps the Third Reich took in disarming its citizens. What I’m trying to say (albeit poorly) is most gun owners are imbeciles. The irrelevancy of the Second Amendment in modern American life and how the privilege of a well-regulated militia has become confused with the right to bring an AR-15 into Arby’s is my source. The notion of a gun owner standing valiantly against the federal despots who want to disarm you, even if it means bloodshed, and think you might have a chance is hilarious. Remember Waco? Wake up, kid. While you’re worried about your "right" to bear arms, your real rights are being nullified by actions like the ones taken by the Citizens United organization or a renewal of the USA Patriot Act.
But let’s not think about it. Let’s not politicize this. In the meantime, we’ll just stomach the actions of this last gunman and wait for our turn.
This is a distinct part of American culture, and it is a very stupid and thoughtless one.
Justin Ford is a Santa Fe journalism junior. His column appears on Tuesdays.
