The Gun Debate and Lousy Message Promotion

I’m always leery of wide-eyed fanatics who blindly push material on me with a message that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny or that I’m not allowed to question.

Wide-eyed fanatics come in many flavors ….

…. the ones who are trying to save my soul.  When I tell them that part of my background is in theology, they are undeterred and proceed to tell me that everything I have learned in the past is wrong but they will “straighten me up”.  Apparently they have the real hotline to God.

…. the ones who are trying to save my body from the scourges of the pending Mayan apocalypse or some other pending disaster that has been revealed to them alone.

…. the ones who are trying to save my mind by attempting to convince me that Twilight, Harry Potter or some other popular book is the best book I will ever read, bar none.

They remind me of robots in a “take over the world” science fiction.  They can only answer questions that they have been programmed to answer.  Thinking outside of those parameters is not permitted.

I don’t mind them being passionate but some people don’t understand that there needs to be limits to their passion. :-)

I guess I need to add a lot of people for and against guns to this list of wide-eyed, unthinking human beings.

Personally, I have no issue with weapons for self protection, for hunting and the like.  When I was a kid, I would go duck hunting with my Dad.

However, when it comes to automatic or semi-automatic weapons, grenade launchers, machine guns (yes, there are over 1/2 million registered machine guns in America), large magazines, the ability to buy guns at gun shows without a background check and the like, I merely ask the question “why do you need them or need the right to buy them without a background check?”

I haven’t made my mind up when I ask questions like this.  I really want to know.  Perhaps there is a reason that I have missed or that is not readily apparent and when I ask such questions, I am providing people with an opportunity to educate me and perhaps sway my opinion.

However, I’ve been disappointed many times in recent days when it comes to the gun discussion.

Some gun proponents explain constitutional history (to the best of their ability), self defense and the like.   Fair enough.

However, many fall back on things like protecting their family against the alleged corrupt government that is coming to get them.

And many fall back on insults right out of the gate.

For the latter two, when I ask why they believe that the government is “coming to get them” or why they have to answer a normal, cordial question with insults and nothing else, many of these people fall back on more insults and even threats.

As an outspoken public figure, I have received my share of death threats and so I’m not really concerned by such “expressions of passion”.

But if the best that a lot of these people have are threats of violence with no hint of rationalization or attempts to convince me with information, I wonder if they realize they are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy for themselves and their right to own firearms.

Anytime I see a wide-eyed person promoting gun ownership and espousing threats, I think they should be disarmed immediately.  Telling them that makes them very angry, exposing them for what they really are.

Paranoid, dangerous people who insist on being armed but who really need to be disarmed quickly.

In fairness, it’s not just the pro-gun side

On the flip side, there are anti-gun advocates who feel that an absence of guns means an absence of violence.  They forget that an intent to kill will be carried out with something else if a gun is not available.  It may not be as easy or as spontaneous in some situations but there is no stopping a person with an intention and a burning desire to carry out that intention.

And to prove that point, anti-gun advocates make their points with intimidation and insults.  In doing so, they seem to have lost sight of their own message that violence only exists when there is a gun present.

Dialog – a better way for both sides

Now, in truth, there are many wonderful, sane, intelligent people out there who have a strong desire to possess weapons for a variety of reasons – hunting, self-protection, as a hobby and the like.  For many of these people, I have no issue with their interest in firearms possession per se.

There are also many wonderful people out there who are trying to bring peace and love to the world but aren’t blind to the reality that expecting heaven on earth is not realistic.

Unfortunately, their respective messages are being lost in the cacophony of people who are unable to discuss, debate or dialog with data, facts, respect, restraint or a sense of decorum.

And as it is with many things, it is always a few people who spoil it for everyone else, regardless of what side of the issue they stand on.

In business, when I am trying to convince a client of a specific direction that I feel works best, I do so with facts, illustrations, respect and a sense of collaboration for the mutual benefit of all.  I stand firm on my beliefs while at the same time, I remain open to the other side’s view as long as it is delivered with data and respect.

Maybe the wide-eyed gun owners (not the sensible ones) should consider doing the same. 

And by the same token, the wide-eyed anti-gun people should also consider following suit.

It’s only when we listen to each other, understand each other’s perspective and then work on a solution that meets somewhere in the middle do we actually find a solution.  After all, if you don’t like it when people are in your face yelling and screaming, why do you think they in turn will be open to you doing the same?

In the meantime, all we get is a lot of noise …. a lot of anger …. and yes …. deaths that could and should have been prevented.

And when that happens, it’s NOT just the pro-gun advocates who own the responsibility of the event.

We all do.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Patience, Elevators and Worn “Door Close” Buttons

I’ve been doing a non-scientific study of elevators lately because it appears to reveal an interesting aspect of our behavior.

In practically all of the elevators I have been in, the button most worn (often by far) is the “door close” button.

I understand that there’s all kinds of debate on the web about whether “door close” buttons really work, whether they are there to help us feel in control, blah blah blah.

Frankly I don’t care whether they work or not.

What is intriguing is that even though we know the door will close on its own, usually reasonably quickly, we insist on pressing that button a lot anyway (and often repeatedly, as if multiple presses versus a single press will signal increased urgency to the elevator).

We can’t wait the few moments for the door to close – it’s not closing fast enough.  After all, the 10 seconds or so we saved getting to the floor of our choice makes a huge difference, doesn’t it?  Yeah, we wasted 5 minutes earlier reading our horoscope or checking Facebook, but NOW we’re in a rush.

Impatience is everywhere …. well … sort of ….

We see examples of unbridled impatience everywhere, whether it’s in the driver that constantly skips lanes to no apparent benefit, the people who camp out weeks in advance to be the first to get a newly released phone and the like.

We are a culture of “got to have it now or else”, “make it happen now or else”, etc.

But when it comes to the important stuff, we are not only not impatient, in fact we are quite complacent.

For example …..

Gun violence in the US continues unabated.  In fact, we are unable to have an intelligent conversation around guns at all.  The debate rapidly dissolves into two camps – the people who insist that we have no guns at all and the gun advocates who cannot rationally explain the difference between needing a gun for self protection versus needing a grenade launcher or a machine gun.  Both sides come armed with statistics and an intention to not care what the other side says. The dialog fails before it starts.

Mental health concerns in Canada and the US continue to rise at alarming rates while government budget cutbacks reduce treatment options for people who need them or throw patients out into the streets to their own devices. We don’t seem to care unless we are directly affected.

In addition, no one seems to care about studies that demonstrate that violence in our media, whether it be in movies, video games, songs or as promoted by our “role models”, is having an influence on the desensitizing of young minds.

And few seem to care that the three afore mentioned concerns (and others) are colliding in complicated ways until events like Newtown, CT occur.  Well … we do care … I guess …. we just aren’t interested in changing things in any kind of measurable way.  

Well, in fairness, we talk about it a lot.  We write inspiring stories, build heart-moving memorial plaques, give eloquent speeches and the like.

That’s good, isn’t it?

Well … I guess it depends on whether measurable, positive change comes from this activity, doesn’t it?

As someone noted on the media on Friday.  After the Virginia Tech shooting some years ago, not ONE change was made in Virginia in regards to gun access, mental health treatment or any of the other factors that have been identified as contributing to that incident.

We’re also quick to say that “the thing” that we like (whether it be guns, the media, etc.) are not the cause and so we pass the buck, waiting for someone else to solve the problem.

Meanwhile ….

The world is still plagued by war, disease, pestilence, hunger and poverty.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Even a species as perfect as ours (at least in our own eyes) will never be perfect and there is MUCH beauty in the world.

And there will always be hunger, disease, war, violence and everything else.  Thinking positive thoughts, ignoring negative news and praying our brains out will not change that.  Nature routinely runs 10% over capacity in general (creating shortages) and it’s part of our genetic wiring to be far from perfect when it comes to how we deal with each other.

However, if we are going to get impatient about “stuff” perhaps it’s time to get a little more impatient about what really matters.

For example, why aren’t we angry that proposed rules that may have taken the shooter in Newtown, CT. off the streets were not imposed because the ACLU claimed foul regarding the imposition on someone’s rights to privacy and how terrible it would be to be medically treated or hospitalized without the patient’s consent.

Why aren’t we angry that the shooter’s rights to personal freedom trumped the rights of those young people and teachers to Life itself?

Life will never be perfect

It can’t be because we are not perfect.

But it sure can be better.

Our potential to be better demands it.

Just because we admit that Life can’t be perfect doesn’t mean that we accept that “anything goes” either.  That’s a cop out and an excuse for indifference, apathy and selfishness.

So the next time you reach for that elevator “close door” button as you feel frustrated that the door is not closing fast enough, stop and ask yourself.

How can I turn this energy into something more productive?

The world needs your energy and your contribution to solutions more than ever.

As a strategy advisor to Wall St, Fortune 25 companies,  governments and the military, I can assure you that we need your contribution a lot sooner than you realize.

Energetic but random execution, like Monty Python’s 100 yard dash for people with no sense of direction, produces little of value.

But complacency or impatience for that which is unimportant produces even less.

Is your energy focused on what matters?

How do you know?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – December 17, 2012

This blog has been out for about 6 hours or so and I have received approximately 1,000 private messages in the form of emails, direct tweets, FB messages and LinkedIn messages.

Of the messages I have received, about 15% have general comments in them.

However ……

Approximately 42% of those messages are slamming this entry for its alleged uber pro-gun stance.

And ….

Approximately 43% of those messages are slamming the same blog for its uber anti-gun stance.

It is intriguing to see what different people can read into the same words, words that are neither pro OR anti-gun.

It goes to show that if we are sensitive about a subject, we will see anything as an attack.  Perhaps if we could lower our emotional sensitivity, we could create a dialog focused on facts and results.

Newtown, CT., Guns and Deeper Issues

My heart broke as news of the senseless slaughter in Newtown, Connecticut broke in the media yesterday.  Any parent or compassionate person could only weep as the stories of those beautiful young people, the brave teachers and staff and the heroic first-responders swept across our screens throughout the day.

And as usual, many people’s attention turned again to gun ownership and the debate over the 2nd Amendment as emotions ran high.

I respect the rights of people who embrace the 2nd Amendment.  Many of these people are good friends of mine who quote statistics that support their right to bear arms.

I also respect the view of many people who are against the 2nd Amendment.  They also produce statistics that support their belief that weapons contribute to violent crime in America.

Personally, while I am not against people’s right to bear arms, I will never have a gun in my home.

But there is something important to note here.  While guns are an enabler to horrific crime, I believe there is a deeper issue here.

Looking at the UN’s 2012 statistics on homicide rates and focusing on the G7, representing “the greatest democracies” in the world, a disturbing statistic is revealed.

Here are the murders per 100,000 people as noted in the 2012 study for the G7:

Japan - 0.3

Germany - 0.8

Italy  - 0.9

France - 1.1

UK - 1.2

Canada - 1.6

And in the nation that I love so dearly ….

US - 4.2

Why?

Why does the nation that is self-described as the nation of brotherly love and built upon freedom and respect have a per capita murder rate far higher than the other G7 nations?

Are guns the reason or are they merely the enabler to an intent that would be carried out regardless?

I remember reading 35 years ago, during a 2nd Amendment debate, when someone sarcastically said:

“Take away guns and we will have to kill each other with clubs, knives and other messy things”.

Isn’t that the truth?

When we have intent to kill, we will use whatever we have at hand.

Don’t believe me?

On May 18, 1927, Andrew Kehoe detonated a bomb at an elementary school in Bath, Michigan that killed 45 people (including 38 elementary school students) and injured 58 others.

The Oklahoma City bombing that occurred on April 19, 1995 and which killed 168 people, including 19 children under the age of 6, didn’t involve guns either.

Guns do make it easier to kill people, especially when mental illness is an issue or anger suddenly overwhelms someone’s ability to think coherently.

But I think there is another question to be answered here.

Why do Americans feel compelled to kill each other far more than any other nation in the G7?

Even anti-gun advocates like Michael Moore promote violence in other forms.  For example, he created an election commercial in 2012 that contained the following content:

“One 75-year-old woman pledges to "c**k punch" Obama's Republican rival Mitt Romney if he wins the election, while a 97-year-old friend suggests she'll "burn this motherf**ker down" if the wrong man gets elected to the White House”

And in a recent interview when he said:

“Things got better when Reagan voters died.”

Sounds like he’s all about peaceful, respectful solutions, doesn’t it?

Or how about actor Jamie Foxx, in referring to his most recent movie, when he talked about how cool it would be to be killing all the white people.

Or the worldwide sensation, South Korean rapper Psy, who was made a guest in America (and the President) even after it was discovered that he had implored people to rise up and kill American military personnel and their families.

Ahhh .. with role models like this …..

Gun control in itself won’t solve the issues faced by America.  300 million firearms are already on the street.  It’s too late to close the barn door on this one – the horse has long since bolted and those weapons will never be easily recalled.

Background checks don’t work.  Apparently, the assailant in the Newtown, CT. case allegedly had mental concerns but stole the weapons from his mother, the registered owner of the weapons.

In regards to background checks, another disturbing fact is that 40% of weapons in the US are bought at gun shows where background checks are not even required. Amazing.

Two statistics that are not trending in the right direction

I have written in the past about two dangerous statistics in America that are colliding.

1. The number of weapons available in America, not just weapons for self defense but people-killers designed for offensive action, continue to grow.

2. The per capita statistics regarding mental illness and even severe mental strain in America continue to grow significantly in the wrong direction.

These are not two statistics that I want to see growing inside the same nation.  It is an obvious recipe that doesn’t take a rocket scientist to predict where it will takes us.

Today, the media gropes for the motive of a disturbed mind that we will never truly have 100% insight into.

However, this disturbed mind is indicative of a deeper ticking time bomb in America and I don’t see us attempting to address this time bomb with any sense of urgency.

Sadly, humans will always find reasons to kill each other.  We cannot legislate or pray away the anger or illness that exists in many people.

However, when the US’s homicide rate in general is much higher than the other G7 nations, I believe we need to explore deeper issues.

What do you believe?

Today we grieve ….

Today, we grieve with the families of those who lost loved ones and we offer our unconditional love and support.  The majority of us will move on and this event will fade from our memories.  Those families will never have that luxury.

We pray for those who were lost. 

We also say a prayer of gratitude for the first-responders who have to deal with these horrors for the rest of their lives, horrors that most of us wouldn’t have the courage or strength to deal with.

But tomorrow ….

But tomorrow, we have to do something measurable instead of what we do best … yelling and screaming at each other while producing little of measurable value.

The lives lost in Newtown, CT. demand such action.

The lives we will save tomorrow demand it also.

What do you demand?

In service and servanthood,

Harry