I was trying to find a way to discuss the American love affair with firearms and the reasons why we have so much trouble finding a balance between the right to bear arms and the oversaturation of those firearms. In my life, firearms have led to a lot of loss and devastation. The misuse and use of firearms have flooded the streets I call home entirely too much. Trying to research the idea of how and why these abuses continue to arise, I am at a loss. Once again, firearms have taken the lives of innocent people in Parkland Florida, before this, it was Las Vegas Nevada and before that a church in South Carolina.
Why? Well, no one seems to have an answer and no new “gun policy” has emerged to address the issues. As an urban pastor, I know that I’ll have to deal with the loss of people to gun violence in the community that I serve. And not only will I have to deal with the pain which gun violence today perpetually brings about, but with the unhealthy coping issues of drugs and alcohol abuse as well. For some reason, my mind runs to our American capitalist system as an underlying theme for dealing with these issues. In some sense, for me, it comes down to who can make a dollar.
I know that beyond the issues of racism and equality, Dr. King began to move toward an understanding of poverty and power. He began to suggest that change needs to happen in the area of economics for real change to come in America. The disparity between the haves and have-nots hasn’t changed since the time of Dr. King. We still struggle with lacking educational systems and economic systems that keep people poor outside the structures of success. What I am trying to get at, is why do we need firearms? What are we supposedly protecting? And who are we protecting it from? Who profits from the poor staying poor and a justice system that is unfair to black and brown people?
Who stands to make a dollar? Ask yourself that questions as you try to find an answer to the questions in our society.
