Huffington Post’s Kulturkampf against Firearms Ownership

I was perusing the Internet lately and came across an article posted on the Huffington Post that attacks the idea that gun control is a cultural issue. I don’t want to get embroiled in all the nuances of what culture is. I am basing this article on a simple definition. Culture is a state of manners, taste and intellectual development at a time and place. The Huffington article Is Gun Control a Cultural Issue, argues that it isn’t but the bias and illogic of the post point to a different conclusion.

The article’s author, Dennis Henigan, argues that firearm issues don’t meet the definitional requirements for culture  like the issues of abortion and gay rights do.  But his article is deceptive and has more in common with propaganda from the 1930’s then an intellectually honest look at culture and what the culture war is about in the United States.

His premise is based on the fact that gun control is a safety issue. But so are abortion rights. Whenever the debate about abortion arises there are those who claim that women will be put at risk if they are forced to perform back-alley abortion procedures. In most jurisdictions, late term abortion may only be performed if the mother’s health is a risk. Even the most ardent supporters of right-to-life allow for an exception if the woman’s life is at risk if forced to give birth. So just because gun control has a public safety issue doesn’t preclude it from being a cultural issue.

Henigan makes blanket statements that simply aren’t true. He states a statistic that says 80% of all gun owners support extending Brady Act background checks to private sales at gun shows. The pole he is citing in fact says 76% of voters favor reasonable gun regulations and over 80% favor criminal background checks for all gun sales. The NRA supports criminal background checks but wants an instant, computerized check that can be done right at the place of purchase. The Brady Bill wants a background check and a mandatory waiting period. It’s the waiting period that makes the Brady Bill unpopular. With the technological advances of the 21^st Century, last century’s waiting period so officials can check criminal records isn’t needed.

Henigan disparages the NRA for using fear, the fear of gun confiscation by the government, as a rallying cry for supporters. But he doesn’t mind using fear himself when he says, “The Congress and the President cannot pass credit card reform unless it gives the gun lobby an absurd amendment that legalizes loaded AK-47s and concealed weapons in national parks.” (Note: The press release cited doesn’t mention AK-47s). Henigan uses the bugaboo of the AK-47 to show that firearm owners are crazed gun nuts. He may not realize that it takes a special federal permit to own an AK-47. In my opinion, credit cards in the hands of irresponsible citizens have done more harm to this country than AK-47s.

Henigan invokes the ghost of the Clinton Administration and the support it supposedly got from law enforcement officials, “who speak with ultimate credibility about the real world danger of easy criminal access to guns.’ He doesn’t mention the fact that statistically a law enforcement officer is twice as likely to commit suicide with a firearm then be killed by a criminal with one. If we follow this logic to its conclusion, it would be safer to take guns away from police officers for their own safety.

Henigan ends his argument by saying that gun control isn’t a cultural issue because it isn’t about the values of firearm owners. But culture is more than some foggy term like values. There is an intellectual aspect to culture which he doesn’t mention. Common sense, backed by statistics, shows that law abiding citizens who protect themselves with firearms are less likely to be the victims of criminals. I want to live in a culture that keeps me safe. And safety starts with the individual, not societal institutions.