by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

On 8 January 2011, in Tucson AZ, Congresswoman Gabrielle – Gabby – Giffords was shot along with 18 other people during a “meet your Congresswoman” constituent meeting, held in the parking lot of a supermarket. Jared Loughner drew his handgun, shot Congresswoman Giffords in the head before turning his gun on the crowd. Miraculously, Congresswoman Giffords survived and against all odds has made a remarkable recovery.

Gabby’s recovery has doubtlessly been aided by the selfless devotion of her husband, Captain Mark Kelly whom has been steadfast, devoted and constantly by her side. Love has miraculous healing properties. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they both not only love one another, but are in love with one another. I could not imagine a trauma of this magnitude happening to my wife, but I do know that I would be devastated. I have joked that if anything ever happens to her, they’re going to have to put my hospital bed next to hers.

I not only fully understand Captain Kelly’s new found activism for “gun control,” I would expect no less. You cannot expect anyone to be completely rational and pragmatic about an issue that so nearly resulted in the death of a person they love. Because of this tragedy, Mark Kelly has started a political action committee – PAC – to fight for gun control. Last I heard, they had a budget of over $10 million dollars.

A Crusader Is Born

Mark Kelly presents himself as a gun owner, staunch 2nd Amendment advocate that believes in sensible gun laws. He makes no bones about his owning guns. Evidently he is a fan of the “Government Model .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. We’ll ignore the fact that had his wife been shot in the head with a .45, she wouldn’t be here today, because I’m sure he would argue that was beside the point. Nevertheless, she was the first person shot and was hit by the first bullet in Loughner’s magazine.

Government Model 45

It is not that the .45 caliber is a more lethal round, it just happens to be larger, heavier and has more kinetic energy. It would not only have penetrated her skull, it would have smashed it and sent bone fragments as secondary projectiles all throughout her brain. The resulting trauma would have resulted in instantaneous death.

Since Captain Kelly is not an uneducated man, one must presume that he knows this. Thus one must question his true motives and commitment to the expressed agenda of his PAC. Firearms are not safe. They’re not designed to be. They are designed to deliver destructive force to whatever target is in front of them. If you believe that guns are the problem, it is intellectually disingenuous to attempt to pick and choose which guns, in which configurations are acceptable. Any firearm can take a human life.

Trading In Fear

One of the main arguments has been the supposed ease with which these so called, “military style” weapons can be obtained. To hear the proponents of total gun confiscation say it, these weapons can be obtained without a background check and absolutely no oversight whatsoever. They’re sold on every street corner across America, right? Most often these suppositions are expressed by people who have never been anywhere near one of these street corners where a transaction of this nature might occur. Imagine Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell down in Harlem, Compton, Watts or the South side of Chicago. They must be clairvoyant because they certainly seem expert in what goes on in these neighborhoods.

Of course, isn’t that sort of the whole problem? This entire debate has come about – ironically – not because a sitting congresswoman was shot in the head. Not because a movie theater was turned into a killing zone. I might point out that none of these mass shootings occurred in depressed, inner city, minority communities. This entire debate came about because some young – mostly white – school children were gunned down in an up scale suburban community where, damnit, these things just are not supposed to happen!

Zombie Apocalypse? Or Inner city people coming to get your stuff?

What is the fear? The fear is that our protected – mostly white – suburban communities could become as dangerous as our inner cities. We cannot have that now can we? After all, people move away from the inner cities, pay higher tax rates, pay higher mortgages for the illusion of safety. Though often unsaid, the flip side of this logic is that armed minorities are coming to get you. I’ve put into words what far too many white people feel on a visceral level. It manifests in seemingly one of two ways. On the one hand you have those – many whom have very little of value to anyone but themselves – who are arming to protect their homesteads from the “Zombie Apocalypse.” Of course the Zombies are colorful stand-ins for inner city people who did not prepare for the collapse they’re so looking forward to. On the other hand, you have those who believe we can pass enough laws to totally disarm everyone and thus prevent the whole scenario in its entirety. Of course, both sides are deluded.

Black In America – Mark Kelly Finds His Blackness

Mark Kelly’s trip to a gun store.

In a stunt to generate some publicity, Captain Kelly set out to show on video tape, how easy it is to acquire a military style rifle. With cameras in tow he went into a Tucson, AZ gun store to purchase an AR-15 style rifle. He also purchased a “Government Model” .45 semi-automatic pistol. After filling out the paper work, he was told there was a waiting period on the rifle. It had been taken in as a sell and there is a 20 day waiting period for law enforcement to run the gun to make certain it had not been used in a crime. Uh oh! What’s this? It seems Captain Kelly succeeded in proving that there are laws, regulations and oversight involved in purchasing a firearm.

In subsequent interviews Captain Kelly stated that his intentions were to prove how easy it is for anyone to acquire these types of weapons. Evidently, the owner of the gun store was listening. He contacted Captain Kelly, returned his money and told him that the sell was being cancelled. His reasons? It was clear that Captain Kelly was not purchasing the firearm for his own personal use. Why is this important? Most people are unaware that if you go into a gun store and say that you are purchasing a firearm for someone else – they could be standing right beside you – the store owner is obligated not to sell you that firearm. Why? Because the presumption is that the person you’re buying the firearm for, is not legally able to purchase the firearm for him or herself. Yes, that’s the law… believe it or not.

Reality Check

Colorado Shooter – James Holmes

We often take so much for granted. If I as a Black man, had ordered all the ammunition, firearms, and tactical gear that James Holmes purchased, it would have been delivered by an ATF SWAT team. This is a reality in America that minorities know all too well.

I was out on a shooting range one day when a white guy walked up to me and asked me if I was Benjamin Moore. I had never met him and was surprised he knew my name. Come to find out, we had participated in some on-line forums. He saw me, figured, Black guy, with guns, must be Ben Moore.

We exchanged pleasantries for awhile, then he got around to the question he was dying to ask. “Have you heard about the upcoming race war?” He asked. “What?” I replied. “The race war?” “What race war?” Then he explained that he had been hearing that the Black people were planning to rise up and kill all white people. I nearly busted a gut laughing. When I had finally gulped enough air to speak again. I gave him the facts on what it means to be Black in America.

The first thing I pointed out was that Black people are only 12% of the population of these United States. We do not own any firearms manufacturing plants, nor do we own any munitions plants. Thus, we would have to buy are weapons and ammunition from white people.

Further I pointed out, if Black people were going to start such a war, we would have to start it on a Friday after 5pm and it would have to be over by Monday morning at 9am. Why? Because we’ve got to be back at work, working for “whitey.” We’ve got mortgages, rent, cable bills, car notes the usual. I walked off and left him standing there like a penny waiting on change.

Being Black in America is far different than most white people assume. The entire gun control issue left reason and rationality behind long ago. Now both camps have become fear merchants. The NRA is pushing the coming “Zombie Apocalypse.” The anti-gun side is pushing the same thing with just a minor twist. They pretend they’re rational because they don’t believe in Zombies… yet, they are attempting to convince everyone that they’re in danger from guns. For them, firearms are the Zombies. Both sides are deluded. We need rationality.