Big Chuck Asks: “Is It Time To Have A Serious National Dialogue About Gun Control?”

First let me say that this post is in response to emails, social media posts and conversations all sparked by the Newtown elementary school shooting.  It was never my intention to "touch the third rail of American Politics" (gun control) on this website, especially in the week before Christmas.

But that has changed.  In response to the cacophony rising in the social media, I invite any and all of you to share your thoughts on the future of the gun control debate in our country.

The Second Amendment.  Twenty seven words.  Written at the dawning of America.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The 1780s and 1790s was an era of wild frontiers in America, exploration of the hinterlands of our new world and the establishment of a semblance of a communal law and order structure.  It was a time when every male, from Grandpa to Grandson (and most of the women too) had a rifle standing at ready near the front door.  Ready for what?  To kill the wolf eating their livestock.  To ward off interlopers who strayed to close to the family hearth.  And, yes, to answer the call of posse comitatus (the raising of a regulated militia) for the perseverance of the general order.

There is no doubt in my mind that in "Big Chuck's house" say, in 1792, that a well-stocked gun rack would be the pride of our living room, gunpowder at ready.  There is also no doubt that both my wife and kids would have been a much better shot than I could ever be.  So, "interlopers beware" of a D'Imperio woman or kid on our doorstep with a flintlock cocked and ready, circa.1792.

So how did we get from our trusted "ol' Betsy" at ready by the door, to the slaughtering of 6-year olds in an elementary school?

Nobody knows.  The river of time has ebbed and flowed and cascaded through the years in America, bringing new sensibilities with it (or insensibilites).  Wars, urban decay, high crime rates, the ease of arming oneself, the rise of the notion of self-defense, the confluence of violence and entertainment in our movies and on television, the sophistication of the sporting gun, etc.  It has all happened in an instant it seems.  Flowing.  Cascading.

So now what?

My appreciation for guns has grown immensely over the last couple of years.  People talk about "best days."  Well, one of my best days of last year was a day filled with shooting.  Just the three of us, three generations.  Myself; my father-in-law, Mike; and our 15-year old boy Joey.

Out in the woods.  Rifles and pistols.  A freezing day.  Shooting at targets of every size and description.  Laughing, hollering and cheering our scores.  It was a great day.  The three of us together.  We shot until our fingers froze.  And then we came in.  And we chatted.  And we cleaned our guns.  And we put them away.  It really was a "best day" for all of us.

Another "best day" for me was an entire day spent interviewing the curator of the Remington Arms Museum in Ilion for a book I have coming out next year.  We started with the early homemade models and worked our way up through today's weaponry.  The story of Remington Arms is the story of America.  I really learned the romance of the guns from the Old West, the importance of the weapons in the founding (and saving) of our country.  And I also learned of the magnificent art of gunmaking,  All happening just up the road from us in Ilion.

Yes, it was another "best day."

So I really do not have any problem with guns.  Any guns.  From the backyard pea-shooter that has been the curse of many a wayward squirrel, all the way up to the biggest and baddest gun of them all.  I mean they are just guns.  Big, stupid inanimate objects.  They sit silently forever until we, God's most imperfect creation, pick one up.

That is when the problem presents itself.  No matter how many safety courses there are, guns by their very nature are designed to (literally) "go off in your hands."  Evidence of this we have seen all too dramatically in recent days and months.

So, again, how did we get from those original twenty-seven words to today?  We used to be horrified when we would read about a crazy person looking up an ex-girlfriend or lover and shooting them and anyone around them.  Or a disgruntled employee going in with a gun to settle a score at work.

Now in the last few months we find a guy dressed in body armor going on a rampage in a darkened movie theatre.  This is followed closely by a deranged person walking into a Portland, Oregon shopping center during the height of Christmas activity and unloading his weapons on unsuspecting shoppers.  And now, the unthinkable.  A person trolling the nether reaches of insanity gets his hands on three perfectly legally obtained weapons and, after killing his mom, walks into an elementary school and executes twenty seven-year olds.

How did we get here?  I know you all want to talk about it, so let me turn for a moment from the fun nostalgic items this column usually highlights.  Instead I open this forum up for you to get it off your chest.  Keep it civil and no profanity please.

And I also ask that you share your sincere thoughts about gun control in this forum.  I don't want to hear gun supporters saying "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."  That is stupid and dog-earred.  And I don't want to hear gun control supporters wailing about how "we live in a gun culture."  I don't live in that culture, and nobody I know does either.

So what are your thoughts?  Is it time for a sincere conversation, a sincere one, about gun control in America?  I would love ot hear your thoughts.  Thanks for your time, and my apologies for the length of this post.