RIGHT TO BEAR

The United States of America is rated as an advanced nation, the standard international unit of governance and a citadel of development. They are like the United Kingdom and other great nations characterized by relative economic stability, technological advancement and prosperity. However one issue makes the USA stand out; no nation provides more weapons to her citizens to ‘ensure’ their security.

One wonders why the US cannot simply emulate the British with respect to how they practice law enforcement. It must be because the USA is such a “yuge” country with a corresponding paranoia of how much she is detested by many nations all over the world except her closest allies. Isn’t it amazing that a greatly advanced nation can ‘controversially’ amend her laws which pertain to marriage and who is able to enlist in the military but is impotent to alter a certain Second amendment enacted in 1791? This right to keep and bear arms was borrowed from the English Bill of Rights of 1689 which has evolved since then. I am not certain the average British officer who is most likely not armed would make a traffic stop and be apprehensive that the driver of the vehicle would reach for a shotgun to blast his aorta. Why is this characteristic of America? The simple answer is that there are guns everywhere and plenty of such.

The US has experienced her own fair share of wars and internal conflicts such as the slave trade and the resultant civil war; the rise of supremacist groups and the World wars with their attendant economic downturns. Migrations to the land where dreams are fulfilled by diverse racial groups must have further complicated the already existing racism and caste system in America at such times. Many were lynched, gang violence proliferated and the black race in America was subjected to inhumane conditions that even animals do not deserve. Many black people paid the ultimate price and even those of the elite hue who dared to stand in solidarity with them were not spared as well.

There has been the odd gunman in a German theatre in June 2015, a deranged shooter in Norway who massacred 77 people in 2011, the cold blooded murder of a British female member of parliament a few weeks ago, a hostage situation in India, a shooting in Australia and the more elaborate killings in places such as France and Turkey. Nothing however tops the daily killings which occur in God’s own country due to the massive proliferation of weapons. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of the victims from gun violence in America are blacks at the hands of law enforcement. This is not to downplay the numerous shootings which have involved diverse races at elementary schools and Universities as well as in cinemas, military bases and clubs. The sloppiness of Law enforcement is simply baffling as it is clear to all that majority of such events were undoubtedly avoidable.

It is apparent that there is something wrong with law enforcement in the US; there is something defective about how they are trained and reprimanded when they err. There have been too many cases which should have ensured the trashing of the second amendment and any other law which inadvertently permits officers of the law and volunteers to assault or kill suspects especially blacks and Mexicans and practically get away with it. The names of those brutalized or killed abound and the number keeps climbing with each passing day. Malika Calhoun was 15years old when she kicked her shoe at Deputy Paul Schene (then 31) who then pulled her by the hair and slammed her head into a wall before dealing her further blows. She was in a Seattle police cell and had been arrested in November 2008 with her underage friend for taking out a car which belonged to her friend’s parent. She did not die but others like Israel Hernandez-Llach (18, Miami Florida), Corey Jones (31, Palm Beach Gardens Florida), Freddie Gray (25, Baltimore Maryland), Trayvon Martin (17, Miami Florida) and more recently Alton Sterling (37, Louisiana) and Philando Castile (32, Minnesota). The list of killings by law enforcement officers or volunteers as was the case with Zimmermann and Trayvon Martin date back many decades and the harsh reality is that many of the perpetrators hardly receive any punishment for reasons best known to the justice system. Many of the cases like that of Amadou Diallo (23) ended up with mistrials, administrative leaves with pay and benefits intact or the officers concerned where deemed to have acted appropriately and exonerated despite some of them having a positive history of heavy-handedness or fatal shootings of suspects.

Some of these victims have not been Blacks like the 18 years old Israel Hernandez who was tasered to his death for being a graffiti artist while a teenage Caucasian boy was tasered to coma by a white cop for possessing some quantity of cannabis. As much as it is convenient to highlight white cops who have been brash in carrying out their duties like Deputy Ben Fields who body slammed a Black female high school student in South Carolina last year; officers from other racial groups have also been involved in bad behavior. Jorge Mercado was the cop who killed Israel Hernandez in 2013 and Nouman Raja (possibly of Indian or Pakistani descent) shot Corey Jones despite only being on the job for 6months. He is reported to have gone around with a knife and tried to cover up his tracks after shooting Jones who was fleeing from him with a non-service weapon. Raja was not in uniform when he killed Jones and is currently facing a murder trial. Akinyemi Borishade was a cop in Florida early this year but his appointment was terminated when he beat a 26year old woman who had been handcuffed. He was on the job for just over a year. Some cops get off lightly while a few others get to face trial; that is the dilemma of the American Justice system.

America has had enough deaths to sweep the entire nation of all weaponry but why won’t they just do the needful? One excuse I see regularly is the involvement of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the discussion. It seems always easy to say the NRA promote the possession and proliferation of small arms and blame the association for the difficult in halting the proliferation of guns available in the country. The NRA was formed in 1871 and is involved in lobbying as a civil rights organization for firearm ownership and their competent and safe use. They are reported to have a membership of about 5million people and a revenue base of about $500million. If we assume that the NRA members are gun fanatics, do they control all the weapons available to over 300,000,000 people and distributed across the 50 states which make up the Union?

The yearly budget by the American government on Defence and Defence related issues is the largest in the world by a mile and the revenue made from the sale of guns for domestic use was $2,742million in 2010. There were 2,288 US based producers of civilian firearms, private security and law enforcement weapons from 1986-2010 and the 2010 pay roll of this industry was definitely over $500million. 3-5.5 million firearms are produced in America per year since 1980 for domestic and no-military use. About 98million firearms inclusive of pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns were either exported or diverted for domestic purchase from 1986-2010 while 48million firearms were imported during the same period. This therefore means that about 6million newly produced or imported firearms are available per year to meet domestic supplies. It simply cannot just be NRA members buying up the stockpile of weapons across the land; the harsh reality is that even victims like Corey Johns, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile had weapons when they were killed with most of them legitimately purchased.

Insisting on background checks as a means to curb illegal possession of weapons has not been effective. A report has it that only a small proportion of prison inmates in America who got sentenced for gun related crimes got their supply through legitimate routes. They usually got weapons to buy through the black market, from family members, pawn shops or as members of local gangs. I do not think there is any legislation that can control gun crimes as long as the guns remain available over the counter like medication for morning sickness. I do not think the American leadership is convinced that it needs to address the issue of guns; if it did it would treat it with the same urgency as they used to settle the issues of gay marriage, abortion and who could serve in the military. The number of pistol producers has more than doubled over the past 12years while the number of units produced has more than tripled. I think the weapons industry is too critical for America to undermine.

Cassius Marcellus Clay was a Republican politician and a former US ambassador to Russia. He was greatly involved with the anti-slavery movement in America and had to defend himself on two occasions with just a knife because he supported the abolition of the slave trade. He had to fight off six men on one of those occasions. There was a time when real threats were made on people’s lives and when law enforcement was primitive. These days, there are surveillance cameras everywhere and communication gadgets to ensure prompt response. I was fascinated with how the British do their policing business without having to be seen in the open or walking about with all sorts of gadgets to take down suspects. I know there was a 17years old Nigerian kid, Fola Orebiyi who was stabbed to death in the neck only a few days ago on the street in London; it is noteworthy that such events do not happen on an hourly basis like what is seen in America. America would do well to emulate their ancient ally and get as many steel and plastic gadgets out of homes and vehicles.

They do not need to have another Micah Xavier Johnson walking into a store to buy a rifle to wreak havoc simply because of the frustration associated with denied justice. He had just one tour in Afghanistan as an 18years old carpenter and mason; one wonders what another with severe complications following more abrasive experiences in Iraq and/ or Afghanistan could do if injustice persists. The sound of shots fired cannot be pleasant and Americans need to rise up to collectively deal guns a much needed death blow. The ‘Right to bear arms’ should only be taught in ancient history classes.

Israel Hernandez was hugely talented but was tasered to death longer than was required.