X

Opinion: Massena man expresses unique views on gun violence

Posted 7/25/22

To the Editor: I wanted to take a moment to express appreciation to Mr. Scott Gray for his submissions outlining his frustrations as a licensed firearm dealer in New York State. He took the time to …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Opinion: Massena man expresses unique views on gun violence

Posted

To the Editor:

I wanted to take a moment to express appreciation to Mr. Scott Gray for his submissions outlining his frustrations as a licensed firearm dealer in New York State. He took the time to provide the actual facts and data supporting his positions, did so in a coherent and documentative manner, and as a result, it was educational.

I was not aware, for example, of the amount of overlap and redundancies that the newly passed laws in New York State created with the already existing Federal laws on the books that gun dealers currently already need to abide by. That would certainly make me want to just throw up my hands.

I’ve always maintained that if you’re old enough to join the military and fight for our country, then you ought to be considered old enough to own a firearm, drink a beer, or rent a car, as far as that goes. That being said, I think that one could reasonably argue that it makes sense to be able to demonstrate some level of proficiency and safety knowledge, which could be administered at the gun dealer level, as well as undergo a professional mental health screening, which could be part of the licensing fee and background check process.

Young adults who join our military have the benefit of being trained on these weapons, including the AR/Assault Style weapons, by the best of the best, in addition to having regular psychological evaluations. My concern is everyone else, particularly the disaffected, troubled, young, angry white males, the race and gender I belong to, who are statistically responsible for the overwhelming majority of these mass shootings.

In the State of Texas, where the Uvalde shooting took place, for example, (I actually looked this up), it is required that one must go through 1500 hours of training in order to receive a Cosmetology license, yet there is no minimum requirement in that state to purchase or open carry an AR or other firearm. That also makes no sense to me. I find it difficult to accept that someone screwing up someone else’s highlights or hair extensions are a bigger danger to us on a societal level than someone with profound psychological issues purchasing and owning a firearm.

I do wish that certain supporters of the Second Amendment, of which I consider myself to be one of, would please stop blaming these mass shootings on violent video games, media, and pop culture, though. As someone who did a Masters level dissertation on media violence in America compared to other countries, I can state unequivocally that other countries, such as Japan and others, for example, consume far more violent video games and media than we do here in the U.S., yet have nowhere near a fraction of the gun related violence.

If we're keeping it real, it is because we do have so many guns here, and the access we have to them. It is our cross to bear and to address. If one is not going to assign blame to the firearm, due to the Second Amendment, then one shouldn't assign blame to those arguments covered by the First Amendment.

Leland Farnsworth
Massena