Knowing full well in advance that an article is going to either (a) get you run out of town on a rail, or (b) engender calls for you to schedule an appointment with a team of psychiatrists, I nonetheless will rush in like a fool to a place where wiser men wouldn’t dare tread.
But please allow me to preface my comments a bit beforehand — in hopes of forestalling a lynch mob attempting to string me up.
I received my first rifle, a .22 Ruger, from my father when I was seven years old. He used to take my brother and me (along with some other kids from the neighborhood) plinking at an abandoned quarry somewhere off Canal Road. A couple of times in recent years I’ve ridden my motorcycle down there in an attempt to find that place of fond childhood memories, but, alas, to no avail.
I got my first shotgun at age 11, a Holland & Holland .410 and became a pretty good shot, especially at pheasant hunting. Even as a kid I didn’t think it was right for me to kill something I didn’t want to eat, so I wasn’t very keen on rabbit, squirrel and raccoon hunting… they tasted yucky.
My father owned a tavern that we lived upstairs over, and it was a rough joint. There was never a time where a handgun was not within my father’s easy reach. He kept one in a slot under the cash register, and another laid on the nightstand beside his bed. There was even one down the side of the cushion in his easy chair. And, while he taught me to handle small firearms also at an early age, I never once thought of touching one of his guns without his express permission. Never.
As a teenager coming up in the inner-city, occasionally one of the other youth would somehow come up with a handgun. I would quietly (but immediately) quit the group. No way was I going to be around some dumb kid playing cowboy with a dangerous weapon. My father had instilled too much respect for firearms in me to ever be anywhere near that kind of foolishness. And of course one day a friend of mine got accidentally shot. But to my mind playing with fire and getting burned is never an accident.
But for poor and powerless kids, firearms hold a distinct attraction… which is compounded by a factor of one thousand by our gun culture. From cowboys and Indians, to cops and robbers, to warriors and whichever bad guys Americans just love to hate at the moment… we worship firepower. So why is it any surprise that young kids from dysfunctional backgrounds can’t seem to wait to get their hands on a pistol, to at last hold power in their hands?
Given the fact the National Rifle Association (NRA) is all-powerful in this country, lessening the number of weapons in the U.S. (or more tightly controlling them) simply is not going to happen. For the foreseeable future there will be appreciably more guns on our nation’s streets, not less.
OK, here’s where I go off into dangerous waters: If we can’t control the number of guns inner-city kids have access to, why not teach them the proper way to use them? Then, even if they still decided to bust a cap in someone’s ass, since they were trained maybe they wouldn’t hit so many innocent bystanders. Hey, when you live in the inner-city this shit ain’t funny.
Children of NRA members are raised around guns. Except in the tragic Columbine High situations they are usually more familiar with weapons and the danger they pose… and therefore are less fascinated, which makes them safer. So why not do what 4-H Clubs in rural areas do: Teach firearm use and safety to teenagers. We could perhaps utilize Boys & Girls Clubs, or other youth service organizations to implement the training. I guarantee you the NRA would come up with tons of money for such a program (and might even be supportive of other initiatives once they see the need in inner-cities).
In a perfect world there would be no guns for young people to get their hands on… but we live in a far from perfect world, and all signs are pointing further away from perfection. Would such training (we could perhaps tie admission to gun classes to good grades) help to prevent needless shootings in poorer communities? There’s really only one way to find out, isn’t there?
Now, put down that bucket of tar.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.
5 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Break out the tar and feathers?”
Bill R.
Mr. Frazier, you are spot on. Giving youth access and training removes the novelty and adds the respect. Children that can shoot on a regular basis with supervision aren’t prone to sneak around behind everyone’s back with a gun or break-in to daddy’s gun safe. The same is true with fireworks, alcohol, or anything else that is forbidden.
Given proper instruction children stumbling upon a discarded firearm would be less likely to succumb to their curiosity and handle the firearm possibly leading to an accidental discharge and more likely to leave it alone and notify the police.
Knowing how to handle a firearm safely is always better than handling one with absolutely no idea what you are doing. We know that kids are going to get their hands on one sooner or later so to your point; they should know how to disarm it and render it safe.
Art McKoy
My sentiments exactly! Inner city kids are gonna deal crack from the back of a barber shop anyway, so ya might as well teach’em young.
C J Paparosa
i like the idea guns for grades
Richard
Damn, something we can agree on!
The Boy Scout’s and the NRA both have a fine programs on firearm safety. It should include gunshot victims and their families. They need to see the faces of tragedy caused by ignorance.
Jim in Avon
Basic firearms safety should be core curriculum in every elementary school. Several posters here have spoken the truth: Eliminate the mystery and curiosity, and much accidental gun mayhem will end. That won’t stop the gang-bangers, but that’s why we have police, courts and armed citizens.
Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult. We teach that here in Avon as part of Safety Town. It should be taught everywhere.