Gun lovers blind to consequences

The Boston Herald

Beverly Beckham

Nine days ago, Jim Brady, the former White House press secretary who was shot in the head and left permanently disabled by an assassin's bullet intended for President Reagan, was booed off the stage at the University of Nevada by opponents of gun control.

He and his wife, Sarah, had traveled to the school to give a speech in support of gun control. The pair have dedicated their lives to this effort, trying to talk sense into people who look at Jim Brady and think, "poor guy; but that could never happen to me."

Every movement is an effort for Brady. He suffers chronic, wracking pain. Yet he's on the road showing people what a single bullet can do.

But last week in Nevada, it was as if no one cared.

Sarah Brady spoke for 40 minutes, but throughout her speech she was jeered and heckled.

"You may think sitting there that you're putting us through something, but this is nothing like we've been through in the past," she told the crowd. Yet she cut her speech short. And her visit to the school. And for a long while after, she probably wondered why she even bothers, why she even tries.

Why does she? Guns seem to have the Constitution's indelible imprimatur. Never mind that they're doing what Communism threatened to do but never could. Never mind that they're undermining our society by destroying us from within.

Just think about the changes that have coincided with the proliferation of handguns. Think about your own behavior these days. Do you lock your house and car even when you're in them? Do you avoid driving through certain neighborhoods and stay home many nights rather than risk going out and getting lost? Do you never walk alone at night, or park in parking garages day or night, or park in parking lots in unlighted spots, away from other people?

Why do you do these things? What are you afraid of? Gangs, of course. Gangs are intimidating.

Knives, too. But guns are the biggest fear of all. You can't outrun a gun. You can't protect yourself from a gun.

You can't escape a speeding bullet, not even when you're in your own home, because a gun will cut through wood and glass to get you.

The gun lobbyists, however, deny that guns are the least bit responsible for this country's record-breaking crime rate. They say guns don't kill people, people do. They say this all the way to the bank because guns, both legal and illegal, are a very lucrative business. Handgun production alone is up 19 percent from 1985 to 1990. More than 1.8 million handguns are manufactured in this country every year.

Yet even before these newest guns are sold, there are already enough guns for every man, woman and child in this country. More guns than refrigerators. More guns than TVs.

More guns than brains.

The legacy of this docile acceptance of weapons that can kill both accurately and indiscriminately is not only the hundreds of thousands of injured and dead, but these terrifying statistics:

Between 1960 and 1990, crime leaped in this country by 355 percent. The number of Americans in prison has doubled since 1980, tripled since 1970; 1.1 million Americans are behind bars. We lead the world in incarceration rate.

The cost to taxpayers to house these criminals is about $20.3 billion a year, and that's not counting legal fees. But the cost to the country is worse. It's a growing epidemic of fear and distrust as pervasive as the violence that has engendered it.

But guns are the American way, gun supporters shout.

Besides, even without them people would still commit crimes. They'd just use other weapons.

Yes, people would still commit crimes. But not with the audacity they do now. And not with the consequences.

That's what the Bradys keep trying to tell people. The pity is few are listening.