Civic duty and domestic tranquility

Kristin Goss wrote an article for Newsweek about the gun violence reduction debate. She talks about the huge gap in the way we understand guns. One side takes the Second Amendment, the part about needing guns to protect ourselves from the tyranny of the government, very seriously. That's especially true when they see the gov't advancing the cause of those people -- immigrants, gays, welfare recipients, and other "socialists" --through the normal democratic process. As the Tea Party did a few years back, they have embraced the right of confronting democratically elected officials through force of arms. Even if they aren't into armed confrontation, many gun owners see their guns as a civic virtue, a mark of self-reliance and duty. They spotlight stories of how "armed citizens" save the day.

The other side is concerned about being safe from thieves and rapists. We also see our work of eliminating guns as a civic duty. Part of being a good citizen means caring for others and working towards "domestic tranquility."

Interestingly, advocates of gun violence reduction are looking at the campaigns that approved marriage equality in the last election. The big lesson was learning how to reframe the debate. In Maine, that included thousands of one-on-one discussions, outside of slogan-driven soundbites.

Strangely, Newsweek refuses to show this article in the online site. So here is the link within the reader. If you try it please let me know if it works for you.