Gore Vidal once said that it was mighty convenient John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King had all been killed by loners, by curiously isolated killers, who just happened to not be part of a broader conspiracy. Same as it ever was. A lone gunman shot nine people in Charleston, South Carolina lastContinue reading “Black Lives Don’t Matter In Charleston”
Tag Archives: gun control
Guns and Speech, Gunslingers and Writers
Patrick Blanchfield examines some of the troubling constitutional questions raised by the gun-toting folks who showed up to protect Cliven Bundy in Nevada: According to open carry advocates, their presence in public space represents more than just an expression of their Second Amendment rights, it’s a statement, an “educational,” communicative act — in short, anContinue reading “Guns and Speech, Gunslingers and Writers”
The All Too Inevitable Denouement of the Trayvon Martin Story
In commenting on the murder of Trayvon Martin last year, I wrote: The killing of Trayvon Martin is a classically American nightmare: a suburb somewhere, a dark night, a young black man on the streets, guns in the hands of people who imagine it will make them safer, calls to 911 that provide grim, brief,Continue reading “The All Too Inevitable Denouement of the Trayvon Martin Story”
Gun Control, Propaganda, and the Susceptibility of Man to ‘Unreason’
In An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), William Godwin wrote: Show me in the clearest and most unambiguous manner that a certain mode of proceeding is most reasonable in itself, or most conducive to my interest, and I shall infallibly pursue that mode, so long as the views you suggested to me, continue present toContinue reading “Gun Control, Propaganda, and the Susceptibility of Man to ‘Unreason’”
Liberal Democracies and Armed Insurrections: Never the Twain Shall Meet?
Jeff McMahan has an interesting article–Why Gun Control Is Not Enough–over at The Stone today (New York Times, 20 December 2012). I agree with him that gun ownership does not have the salutary political effects that its most fervent, Second Amendment-quoting advocates claim it does, even though I don’t agree with McMahan’s conclusion that ‘the UnitedContinue reading “Liberal Democracies and Armed Insurrections: Never the Twain Shall Meet?”
Pistol-Packin’ Professor: A Day in the Life
In honor of those–like libertarian law professors, the last defenders of the faith–who have attempted to point out the silliness of keeping faculty unarmed in our school’s classrooms, I offer these recollections of a day in the life: The alarm went off at 6. I sat up, swung my legs off the bed, and reachedContinue reading “Pistol-Packin’ Professor: A Day in the Life”
The Bushmaster Male (Man Card in Tow)
Chandra Kumar recently wrote on my Facebook page: One other thing not mentioned in the media: all these gun-happy killers seem to be male. Lots of women have ‘mental health’ problems too but I don’t hear about them going out on mass killing sprees. Surely this fact, in a civilized society, would be cause forContinue reading “The Bushmaster Male (Man Card in Tow)”
Growing up with Guns
I grew up with guns. Two of them: a 12-bore shotgun and a .25 automatic. I do not remember the make of the former but the latter, I’m pretty sure, was a Browning (a ‘Baby’; again, if I remember correctly). They belonged to my father (and thus, our family): he had purchased them overseas afterContinue reading “Growing up with Guns”
A Couple of Reflections Prompted by Sandy Hook
Yesterday, on Facebook, I reposted a link to a post I had written here in response to the Aurora shootings in July. You could change the title of the post slightly to reference ‘Sandy Hook’ rather than ‘Aurora’ and nothing else would need changing. This morning, still clearly unable to write anything coherent in response,Continue reading “A Couple of Reflections Prompted by Sandy Hook”
Aurora is All-American, Grimly So
I consider myself to have some facility with words but I’m struggling today to find a term that will describe a political debate that has progressed to the point where the most perspicuous contributions to it are made by satirists, cartoonists and professional humorists. (Should all political debates be so blessed? I wonder.) The ‘debate’–forContinue reading “Aurora is All-American, Grimly So”
Samir Chopra 