Indians For Guns

It's not just in the US, gun violence is an Indian tragedy also
Patralekha Chatterjee | Agency: DNA | Monday, December 17, 2012

Guns N’ Roses come together in ecstatic fusion onlyin rock music. Elsewhere, guns emit the smell of death and devastation. As I write, grief, horror and outrage continue to sweep across the world as details of the latest gun violence in the United States come out. The spotlight is firmly back on gun laws, one of the touchiest political issues in that country.

In the shootout at Newtown, Connecticut, an armed young man barged into an elementary school with which his mother was associated, and shot dead 26 people with his mother’s legally purchased guns. The victims of the massacre included 20 children between the ages of six and seven. The six adults who died in the shootout were women. Barely had one time to digest this act of senseless violence, thatanother shootout has been reported. Last Saturday, a man opened fire at a hospital in Alabama, wounding a police officer and two employees, before being shot and killed by another officer.

The arguments, both for and against gun control in the US, are well-known. Within minutes of the news of the shootout breaking, the social media began to reverberate with thefamiliar refrain:“Guns don’t kill; people do.”Laila Lalami, a Moroccan American novelist and essayist, captured the desperation and helplessness of the others when she tweeted the “five Stages of gun Violence in America: 1. Shock. 2. Prayers. 3. Condolences. 4. Mourning. 5. Amnesia.”

The investigations into the case continue. So does the hugely polarized discourse overmass shootings in the United States and the nation’s gun culture. But this is not only an American tragedy as some would like to believe. Today, gun violenceis an everywhere problem.

Last weekend, an 18-year-old B Tech first year student was shot dead allegedly by his 52-year-old jobless father on the outskirts ofDelhi. The father was angry at being harangued about his alcoholism and his joblessness. The man used a licenseddouble-barrel gun to kill his son. InGurgaon, armed men recently bargedinto a private hospital and shot at afather and the son in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The reason:personal enmity.

Recent media reports have detailed numerous gun-related fatalities involving petty and personal disputes. India has more than40 million civilian-owned firearms. The gun licensing regime in India (regulated by the Arms Act, 1959) is stringent but there is athriving illegal weapons market. Unlicensed firearms account for86 to 92 per cent of reported firearm-related murders, depending on the year, according to a 2011 report of the India Armed Violence Assessment.

Illegal firearms is not the only problem. There are other emerging challenges. The Supreme Court has asked foran explanation from the Centre about the norms for issuing gun licences to private security guards. At a time whenprivate security agencies are mushrooming all over the country, a regulatory framework against misuse of private security agencies is a must. But how many states are paying heed?

Of equal importance is the chorus of voices, within India, assertingthat this country needs more firearms given its low police-to-population ratio.

Willindividual ownership of guns spell greatersecurity?This is no longer a question that only Americans have to deal with.

The National Association for Gun Rights India (NAGRI) rues that The Right to Keep & Bear Arms was enshrined as a Legal Right as per the Arms Act, 1959 but beginning in the early 1980s and continuing to date, several amendments have been made to the original Arms Act, 1959 & Arms Rules, 1962. This, according to NAGRI, hasleft the “common citizen defenceless and at the mercy of all manner of criminals & anti-national elements”.

The Association argues that “this policy of creeping disarmament of law abiding citizens, prompted a group of public-spirited citizens to collect together in January 2010 to form NAGRI, with the goal of ensuring that every Indian citizen’s right to own & carry arms to protect themselves is upheld”.

The world responded to 9/11 by chanting “We are all Americans”. Today, as we express regret, sorrow, and condolence to the bereaved families in the US, it is time to also ask “What next?”. Gun violence is here, right in our own backyard as well.

The author is a Delhi-based writer

Today, gun violence is an everywhere problem.

YogiBear wrote:Aloha,

As is said in the US, he's never been a victim of a violent street crime.......

Despite the bravado of US policymakers that occurrences like Virginia Tech and Aurora cannot be attributed to loose gun regulation, there is a lurking fear in most American minds that free availability of guns is dangerous to the average peace-loving citizen. When you walk the US streets, you will have to presume that a stalker or anyone who confronts you has a weapon on his person. This is the psyche that persuades many law enforcement personnel to open fire in a jiffy at an individual, however mildly the latter may challenge the former’s authority.

We in India are far better off. The absence of guns explains why there are fewer murders, if one takes into account the fact that we are no less a violent nation than the US. We have nearly as many attempts to murder as there are murders only because the victim invariably escapes with serious injuries caused by weapons other than firearms.

FN-Five-Seven wrote:There are also reports that Nancy Lanza used display her 5 firearms , namely two handguns , two rifles and the M4 carbine to her friends everytime they visited her . Nancy Lanza treated her treated her firearms as if they were her bowling trophies . The fact that Adam Lanza was able to get hold of the GLOCK & Sig Sauer & the M4 carbine is evident that Nancy Lanza did not take any precautions to securing and storing the firearms and their ammunition in a gun safe at home . Who knows , maybe she had them on display in her living room.

Virendra S Rathore wrote: Then are we suggesting that Guns and ammo should be locked away in some corner?
I could live with that as long as it doesn't hamper my chances against a rapist or robber barging in. But sadly it does hamper my chances.

Virendra S Rathore wrote: I think the problem was not the access to firearms but exposing a mentally unstable or socially awkward youngster to firearms.

Virendra S Rathore wrote:Problem is also the socio-cultural desensitization of the new generation via uncontrolled violence & sex shown at TV, Movies, Games and Internet etc.

Virendra S Rathore wrote:As I mention everywhere, each household has a kitchen, each kitchen has a handsome long knife. I am yet to see half the world kill itself in homicides !

FN-Five-Seven wrote: In my above post , I did not make any suggestions to how someone should keep their firearms at home or how they should carry their firearms while on move .
I , however , DID mention that , if a mentally ill son was able to get his hands on his mother's GLOCK & Sig Sauer & her M4 Carbine and their ammunition , then the mother was irresponsible in storing and securing her legally owned firearms . In my books , that makes her an irresponsible gun owner and I stand by my statement .

FN-Five-Seven wrote:If Adam Lanza did not have access to the firearms , then this unfortunate incident wouldn't have happened and those 20 kids and their teacher would still be alive , their families would not have been ruined

FN-Five-Seven wrote:If I see all the movies of the " Fast & Furious " series , then start thinking of myself as Vin Diesel and loose control of my car and mow down a dozen people , then I and only I are to be blamed for my actions . I cannot start blaming Vin Diesel , the Director & Producer of the movie , HBO , my television set , my DTH service provider for the fact that I lost track of what is real life and what is entertainment .

FN-Five-Seven wrote:There have been countless incidents of domestic violence , where common household item have been misused .