Jared Reyes
1st Period
Model UN II
When we first broached the topic of gun control, it never occurred to me that we would spend as much time as we have on it. I deducted that this was in response to the Arizona shooting spree, but to my surprise (and pleasurably so) we expanded from that, and it was very enlightening as we explored gun policy, and how often it could be contradictory or outrageously loose on gun trading. At least, personally I thought so. While I admit that at times, our simulation was outlandish in some respects, it was nonetheless refreshing to see some of my peers actually work towards something that stemmed from their beliefs, however minimal the work, effort, or even interest was.
Call me a misanthrope, but throughout the simulation I found that I felt that humanity as a whole shouldn’t have access to firearms, much less the United States. I’ve never seen such pettiness, such boyishness, such an overwhelming amount of foolish clinging at the façade of masculinity and “American” spirit, than I’ve seen in the politics defending anti-gun control. And I became increasingly infuriated as I found out more about these (forgive me if you find that I’ve beaten this word to death) “lax” gun control laws. I was very surprised that I felt that such a tight grip on gun control was needed. I suppose my beliefs are akin to that clip of Chris Rock’s performance, Bigger and Blacker, in that if excessive restrictions were to exist, people would be less likely to buy guns. Simply put, less guns= good.
After watching Bowling for Columbine, I felt that Michael Moore did a solid job of denouncing the most purported reasons as to why Americans are so prone to violence, and/or obsessed with it, i.e. violence portrayed in media, America’s violent history, and so on. From what I gathered, it all boiled down to sensationalism that nearly all news outlets provide in their news coverage. Something that Oliver Stone had already addressed eight years before Bowling for Columbine, in his satirical film Natural Born Killers, which also addressed the issue of violence in America, and also laid part of the blame on sensationalism. Sensationalism and cultural enforcement that guns are good, are what I believe are reasons to our nation’s current dilemma. I believe that we as a people are deadened to the idea of death, and that it can even be justified in some cases. Otherwise, I felt that our brief focus on gun control was very enlightening, very informative, and inspires me to fight this growing threat in the near future, just as the those Columbine victims did in the film.
And with luck, maybe I’ll accomplish something like they did.
