Does the Right to Own a Gun Give You the Right to Use It?

I am saddened to see that, yet again, a gunman has walked into an educational establishment with the purpose of killing as many people as possible, before finally killing himself. It is tragic for many reasons; too many reasons but, however you look at it, it is not a sane act - except in one respect: students in a school or university are highly unlikely to be armed, so maximum damage can be done before the inevitable end of the killing rampage.

What is the reason for it? I don't know, and I'm not sure that it really matters, since what is clearly emerging is a pattern of method. The reason behind the atrocity pales before the atrocity itself and is swamped out by it. Maybe that is intentional. What is most disturbing is that one person made the decision that the atrocity was an acceptable course of action and had the means to carry it out.

This is not right, and no one would say that it was, so how has this come about? And what is the solution? Should students, or teachers, be armed? It would seem logical, but abhorrent. But it is logical: as logical as the belief that it is the right of the individual to bear arms.

The sad fact is that the United States has a clear and well-developed gun culture. There is an undeniable belief that each individual has an inalienable right to own a gun and this is enshrined in the constitution. Implicitly, this means that each individual has the right to use a gun if he, or she, sees fit to do so. This inculcates a belief in individuals that they are empowered not only to enforcing their own law, but also of exacting fearful retribution on those who transgress what might be a very personal interpretation of what is right and what is wrong.

Anyone can be wrong, but it is much safer if they do not have a gun in their hands at the time. It is also much safer if people do not believe that they have a right to own a gun and use it. A gun is a crude means to settle anything, especially a matter of right and wrong - this is true individually and internationally.

An individual's idea of what might be right and wrong is, unfortunately, often a very personal one. More often than we would like to admit, an individual's idea of what reality might be is also not only very personal, but also very distorted emotionally, logically and spiritually. All of us, at some time, become unwell, sometimes physically and sometimes psychologically. Some people never enjoy good health, though they may not need constant care.

All men are not created equal. This is a very simple and observable fact: they are not all churned out of the same mould and they are all different. Equality is a nice ideal and a good principle on which to build a society and the laws of that society, but it is the inequalities which create the dynamics of that society and the inequalities which make a society live and thrive. Inequalities bring us art and culture and crime. Inequalities create industry and poverty. Inequalities create injustice.

Injustice creates victims; both people who have been genuinely wronged and those who believe, for one reason or another, that they have been wronged. If they have been wronged, then reason dictates that they are right to do something about it. So what can they do?

It is a complicated world in which we live and the art of navigating it a subtle one. We have created this world with thoughts, ideas and belief - also with sweat, tears and blood. Mistakes and successes are interwoven tightly to create the fabric of our modern life and more are continually being added to the weave. It is, quite simply, overwhelming for one person to work out what they need to do to be heard, much less noticed. What rights does the individual have which can help him? He has the right to own a gun and, implicitly, the right to use it.

It may not be a rational act, but we are not considering someone who is acting rationally, just someone with a gun and a grievance. The solution may not be effective, and it may not be right, but it is simple.

There are no simple solutions to many problems, but people like to pretend that there are. Politicians like simple messages that are positive and can be easily understood. People want clear courses of action that they can easily follow. Might is right is a simple philosophy, but it is not right to use power, especially a murderous power, simply because you possess it. No problems should be addressed using the culture of the gun: not on the international stage; not in the towns or cities; not in the classroom. This is not effectively taught or practised. It certainly has not been learnt.

Culture must change.