Normally I try to write about the differences between the USA and Europe in a balanced way. But now that we have had a few days to think about the tragedy in Newtown, I can't find anthing balanced to say about the US love affair with guns. So here goes: all guns blazing, to coin a phrase. My apologies to all those US citizens who don't love guns.
I understand that the second amendment is unlikely to be changed anytime soon. This means that the USA cannot conduct a rational debate about gun control, because everyone is debating what can be done without changing the second amendment. I want to speak the unspeakable and give an outsider's view of this insane situation.
At the time of the revolution, the British colonies had just fought a war against the French and their Indian allies. Because of clumsy British attempts to get the colonists to pay for the war, the colonies reached the point where British troops tried to take away the colonist's guns. The colonists quite reasonably resented this. They needed guns to hunt, to protect themselves against hostile indigenous people, and above all to protect themselves against the British oppressors. So two things appeared obvious when they came to write the Bill of Rights: A standing army was a bad idea (because they had just fought a war against the standing army of the British) and a well-regulated militia was essential to prevent the British (or anyone else) coming back. So the right to keep and bear arms made sense then.
That was nearly 250 years ago. The US standing army is the most powerful in the world. The basic reason for the right to keep and bear arms has gone.
I have heard US polititians say that the right to keep and bear arms is the US citizen's ultimate safeguard against a repressive government. Seen from the perspective of Britain, this claim appears both deranged and deeply cynical.
Another argument I have heard is that gun ownership means that you can defend yourself against crime. But this argument works the other way round too: Criminals are armed because guns are easy to get and because they expect to meet well-armed citizens when they commit a burglary or robbery.
In Britain, it is extemely difficult to get a gun. Criminals do get them, but it is a complicated and expensive business. So most of them don't. If you shoot for sport, you keep your gun at the shooting club under lock and key. If you want to hunt, you have a police background check, and you are only allowed certain types of guns. Any sort of rapid-fire gun is illegal. The same applies to handguns that can be hidden. We have a very low rate of gun crime and gun accidents. Our police are not normally armed. Armed police are specially trained and operate under strict military-style discipline in emergencies only.
Of course, if the right to keep and bear arms were abolished tomorrow, it would take a long time to get rid of all the secret stocks of weapons. But that is not a reason not to start.
So get real, USA. Think the unthinkable. The second amendment will be repealed eventually. Will it take 10 years? 100? 1000? How many more people have to die?
