"When The Cost Of Liberty Is An Occasional Massacre" by Jamelle Bouie, New York Times Columnist

 

When the cost of liberty is the occasional massacre

By Jamelle Bouie Opinion Columnist

The gun was legal.

Under state law, the young man who killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, was entitled to his guns. He bought his AR-platform rifles legally for his 18th birthday. He had no criminal record. He was, until the moment he shot his grandmother, a law-abiding citizen, the kind of person we are supposed to trust with high-powered firearms.

But this gets to the fundamental problem with the conservative idea that the only people with guns we have to worry about are the “bad guys.” It’s the idea that, as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas put it last year, after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo.: “You go after violent criminals, you go after felons, you go after fugitives, you go after those with serious mental illness, you stop them from getting guns. And when they try to illegally buy a firearm from you, lock them up and put them in jail.” Gun Violence: "If Ever More Guns Make America Safer, Why Are We Not Already The Safest Country In The World?" N.B. At The Pearly Gates, St. Peter Will Ask This Question To Everyone. Your Answer Will Be A Litmus For Admission https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2022/05/gun-violence-if-ever-more-guns-make.html

To the conservatives who posit a sharp distinction between “good guys with guns” and “bad guys with guns,” law-abidingness is an inherent trait of a class of individuals. It is an ontological category; some people have it, others don’t. Any form of gun control is verboten in this worldview because it could interfere with the ability of a “good guy” — of a “law-abiding citizen” — to obtain that to which he is entitled.

This is not how the world works. People are law-abiding until the moment they are not. They are “good guys” with guns until their circumstances and their choices make them “bad guys” with guns. And from the perspective of the person who sells guns and ammunition, there’s no way to know whether a law-abiding customer will, at some point, become a criminal.

The most vociferous supporters of permissive gun laws seem to believe that an armed society will be, for the most part, self-regulating. That we will be able to keep weapons out of the hands of the wrong people and insofar as we can’t, a law-abiding citizen will be there, with a gun, to stop the bad guys, whenever and wherever they appear.

But people don’t exist on such a strict binary. And when we allow for the unlimited proliferation of weapons, we guarantee that when the switch flips, people will die.

If that is the cost of freedom — if our liberty demands the occasional massacre — then conservatives ought to make that case. Alan: Almost always, the use of firearms is a coward's confession that s/he only loves people who belong to one's own tribe. Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/fr-thomas-merton-explains-in-16-words.html

What I Wrote

My Tuesday column was on the recent CPAC event in Hungary and the anti-Americanism of the populist right.

Of course, with its endemic corruption, repression of sexual minorities, de facto state control of media, constitutional manipulation and an electoral system designed to give supermajorities to the ruling party whether the votes are there or not, there is little that is democratic about Orban’s democracy. For American conservatives, however, the degradation of Hungarian democracy is a feature, not a bug, of Orban’s rule.

My Friday column used an analogy to the “slave power” thesis to think about the influence of the gun lobby in American politics.

Rather than suppress the “mischiefs of faction,” our system empowers them. Few Americans want the most permissive gun laws on offer. But those who do have captured the Republican Party and used its institutional advantages to both stop gun control and elevate an expansive and idiosyncratic view of gun rights to the level of constitutional law.

Also, the most recent episode of my podcast with John Ganz tackled the 1992 action thriller “Under Siege.”

Now Reading

Aziz Rana on the left and foreign policy in Dissent magazine.

Garry Wills on gun violence for The New York Review of Books.

Carol Ann Davis on the legacy of Sandy Hook for The Atlantic.

Matt Ford on how the Supreme Court is enabling America’s gun violence epidemic for The New Republic.

Jessica Winter on the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, for The New Yorker.

Feedback If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to your friends. They can sign up here. If you want to share your thoughts on an item in this week’s newsletter or on the newsletter in general, please email me at jamelle-newsletter@nytimes.com. You can follow me on Twitter (@jbouie) and Instagram.

Photo of the Week

Jamelle Bouie

I generally try not to share photos of my family, but I do really like this picture of my brother and my dad, hanging out at the neighborhood park on a very lovely April day.

Now Eating: Warm Farro Salad With Asparagus, Peas and Feta

Before spring turns to summer, I wanted to share at least one seasonal recipe with you. I’m a big fan of the grain salad and this is a winner. It’s flavorful and comes together pretty quickly. Feel free to go heavy on the chili flakes, the scallions and the feta. It’s also worth blanching the asparagus in salted water, especially if you don’t like the grassy notes that come when it’s raw. Recipe comes from Serious Eats.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 2¼ cups), divided Pinch dried red chili flakes, or more as desired Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup farro 1 quart homemade vegetable stock or low-sodium vegetable broth 1 cup fresh or frozen peas 1 bunch kale, trimmed, washed, and cut into 2-inch ribbons (about 1½ cups) 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard ¼ cup slivered almonds 4 scallions thinly sliced, white and light-green parts only ½ cup crumbled feta

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan until shimmering. Add 2 cups of asparagus and chili flakes, and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In the same saucepan, add the farro and stock and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and cook until farro is tender, about 30 minutes; add water if necessary to keep farro covered. Drain farro and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in peas and kale and let stand until peas are tender and kale is wilted.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil along with the lemon juice and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Fold vinaigrette into farro; add the cooked asparagus, almonds, scallions, feta and remaining ¼ cup raw asparagus. Let stand 5 minutes, then toss and serve.