On the Saturday before Christmas, Bryan Miller and I attended the
Philadelphia Gun Show in Oaks, PA. Bryan is the executive director of Heeding God's Call (HGC), a faith-based organization dedicated to gun violence
prevention. A major focus of HGC's work is to
attempt to influence gun shop owners to sign a code of conduct, which if
enacted can reduce the practice of straw purchasing, a process by which legally
purchased guns find their way to the illegal gun market. Illegal guns are
almost always guns used in violent crimes committed in communities.
However, we did not attend this particular gun show to call
attention to our cause but rather to learn a bit about the gun culture that
continually resists any common sense efforts to change laws and adopt policies
that would help reduce the presence of illegal guns used in violent crimes in
our communities. I asked Bryan to go with me because of his vast knowledge of
guns and gun culture from his 20+ years as a leader in the gun violence
prevention movement. To say the least our experience at the Philadelphia Gun
Show was both illuminating and chilling.
As we walked into the convention center, we were met by two
police officers who were checking to make sure that we were not bringing loaded
weapons into the facility. When I said "We have no weapons" one of
the officers quipped: "Well make sure you come out with some!" I
found this to be a jarring reminder of how deeply guns are embedded in our
culture, and a foreshadowing of what was to come.
Imagine a building the size of two football fields with long
tables running the length of the field. Then picture that on those tables laid
side by side are every kind of firearm imaginable: tiny handguns, pistols of
all shapes, automatic rifles, double-barreled shotguns, antique rifles and even
high powered military style machine guns and rifles. This is what we
encountered as we entered the convention hall. Now imagine that the aisles
between the tables are jammed with white males from ages 10-75. There were very
few women, and most were behind concession tables, and out of the thousands of
people we passed while we were there, I only noticed two persons of color. As
two middle aged white guys in blue jeans and baseball caps, Bryan and I fit
right in. Even so, I felt like I had entered a strange space, where everyone looked
like me but spoke and thought in an entirely different language. I understood
the words, but they made no sense to me.
We mostly just walked, looked, and asked the vendors about their
wares. Occasionally I picked up a
weapon and held it in my hand. I was
surprised by the weight; these were not the toys of my youth when we played
cops and robbers. We came across guns colored pink, a clear effort to attract the female customer, an apparently growing clientele for the gun
industry. In addition to guns there were tables dedicated to other accessories
including targets with life size replicas of various kinds of haunting figures
(thugs, terrorists, thieves), hunting and military apparel, ammunition and
books. In the middle of one section was located a booth, advertising itself as
the Tea Party filled anti-Obama, anti-liberal and pro-gun propaganda and bumper
stickers. However, the most disturbing was a sniper rifle we saw, which had the
capacity and accuracy to knock out the side of a building from several thousand
feet (see this gun at the top of the page). All of this was on sale for those who had the cash and could pass the minimal criminal background check.
While I did not see or hear anything that was overtly racist, the
clientele was at least 95% white males. I can't imagine that there would too many
people of color who would feel comfortable in a setting where there were
thousands of white guys with guns.for three weeks . Furthermore, there was nothing I heard or saw that indicated any awareness or empathy for the demonstrations that had been going on since the grand jury non-decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. Moreover, there was a sense in which what we
were experiencing was entirely normal for those gathered there, and that any
effort to engage folks in a conversation about responsible gun legislation to
reduce gun violence would not be tolerated. I kiddingly said told Bryan that we
should set up our Heeding God's Call booth right across from the NRA Recruiting
booth. Bryan’s only response was to point out that
the location I had indicated was close to the exit, which we would need when we
got run out.
After about an hour we had taken in all we could stomach and
headed home. When I expressed interest in visiting a future gun show, Bryan
told me I was on my own from then on. I get it; he has suffered the loss of a
brother to gun violence and has been the object of voluminous hate mail from
pro-gun folks. To even go one time was a personal sacrifice and a gesture of
friendship. He has no need to see any more than he has.
After dropping Bryan off I thought my gun experience for the day
was done, but I was mistaken. That very afternoon two NYPD police officers were
murdered by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who
claimed his action was in retaliation for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric
Garner. As I watched the news that evening, I
was reminded yet again that no one, not even armed and trained police officers,
are immune from gun violence. News commentators and op-ed pieces focused on the
connections to the post Ferguson/Garner demonstrations, and conservative
commentators such as Fox News sought to place the blame for the murders on NYC mayor Bill DeBlasio,
Rev. Al Sharpton, Atty. General Eric Holder and President Obama, even though
each of them had repeatedly and consistently condemned any acts of violence
during the demonstrations.
Yet, no one asked about the gun that was used. It was as if violence
and the presence of a gun in the hands of troubled young killer were givens.
Two innocent men, who happened to be police officers, died because we as a
culture have failed to fully question those givens. A few days later the NY Times reported that the gun in fact was purchased illegally
in Atlanta, GA thru a straw purchasing process. Laws regulating the purchase of
guns in Georgia are far more lax than in New York, so it makes sense that he
would not have gotten the gun in New York. Pro-gun advocates take incidents
like this as justification for people becoming more fully armed; i.e. to
protect themselves. That logic goes out the window when we remember that the
deceased officers were armed and trained. Perhaps we need to reframe the issue
and ask why a gun would be so available to commit such a heinous act.
It was an interesting juxtaposition to experience in one day: a
gun show celebrating our gun-crazed culture and the deadly reality of that
culture's effect on human life. I have refrained until now from writing about
this day partly to allow the funerals of the two officers to take place.
However I have also waited because I have been trying to make sense of why we
continue to think we can literally shoot our way out of gun violence. Many
conservative critics and law enforcement organizations want to pin the blame on the post-Ferguson
demonstrations against police brutality (and obviously that played a part in
the killer's mind), but in my mind such discussion deflects attention from the
larger cultural mentality we have that the way to resolve tensions is by
resorting to violence, especially with firearms.
As I have gotten older, I have come to trust my instincts, such
that one principle I have adopted is "If something looks crazy, feels
crazy, sounds crazy, it is probably crazy." Our inability as a nation to
constructively address our fascination, even addiction, to guns and violence
seems crazy to me. Yet my visit to the gun show soberingly reminds me that
there are many people, especially white guys who look like me, who think I'm
the crazy one for even considering such things.
So I am caused to wonder....Am I crazy or is this whole scenario a little bit too insane?
[Pictures by Drick Boyd]
