We celebrate festive occasions by firing bullets, lots of lots of them. We present toy guns to kids and they love to point it on everyone. We make movies with posters full of blood, bullets and guns. We play video games in which we use any gun in the world we want and kill random people. We have mobile applications containing diverse bullet sounds. We love guns? Do we?
Some years back I met an acquaintance who was studying in 12th grade. I greeted him with a hug; he held my hand and drew my attention towards the pistol tucked around his waist. When we separated, I read a status on his face, “feeling accomplished”. The boy was too naïve to brag openly with a gun, still he conveyed the message with a gangster look on his face.
Those were the days without facebook, and status updates heavily relied on person to person meetings. Ironically, now that boy openly brag about his guns, he don’t have to put people’s hands around his waist, he put pictures on the facebook.
Between these two incidents, there is a huge technological and social shift. In past, only limited segments were more inclined towards the possession of guns as movies successfully instilled in their minds that power only come through the barrel of a gun. Well, that trend has lost its intensity thanks to cell phones and penetration of internet even in the remotest of areas. But guns are still there, almost every second video game, whether it belongs to play station, X box, smart phones, or ordinary cell phones, contains violence and guns, same goes for the movies and seasons which contain violence.
Unfortunately this whole shift is proving to be counterproductive, in past, limited deprived youth was compelled towards the love of the guns, and now almost 7 out of 10 teenagers love guns and killing people (In video games so far) consciously or unconsciously.
When we talk about resolving the different issues faced by society, we often take assistance of different models and theories but often ignore the obvious cause and effect relationship. For instant, we take the case of Karachi, put up this question in a public forum that why “In last ten years, there is a rise in target killing and mobile snatching in Karachi?” Analysts will successfully diagnose the problem and they will present every kind of solution but most of them will ignore the fact that all this is happening because guns exists. So before blaming any political party, any religious organisation, any personality, we must take account of the fact that behind all the crimes, killing, robbery, snatching, there are “guns”. Generally speaking, nine out of ten people will ignore this hypothesis on basis of the theory of “self protection”. So, the frequent answer of the question that “why guns exist?” will be, “because security is a primary prerequisite for a peaceful living and even before invention of guns people used to have different weapons”.
Let’s make an analogy, in the context of above discussion, let me ask you another question, “why we drink carbonated drinks?” most of the people do not have them because they like them but because they “existed” even before them. The corporation’s (coke, Pepsi etc) which control the public mind through marketing exist like daylight around us. Everybody know that a regular 250 ml carbonated bottle contain around eleven teaspoons of sugar but still we cannot avoid it, why? Because, they are beyond our matter of choices or we can say they have successfully altered our choices in last decade or so.
Similar is the case with guns, just like every other business in the world, marketing think tanks behind the arms industry make sure the maintenance of demands of weapons. Coincidently, guns and other weapons generate more revenue for their corporate heads than any other business in the world. So, cause is simple, those who make weapons will make sure that people keep believing on guns and its effect is in front of you, if you are too naïve to think, compare a decade before with decade after the establishment of weapon industries. This should make us believe that before jumping to any conclusion regarding matter of violence or terrorism we must not ignore this simple cause and effect theory.
There are various cases of random gun violence occurred in last decade or so in many parts of the world but U.S topped the list with heinous thread of events which mostly contained a psycho killer and random kids or adults. It generated very interesting debate regarding gun laws. Gun control supporters say that broad or unrestricted gun rights inhibit the government from fulfilling that responsibility. Gun rights supporters promote firearms for self-defense, hunting, and sporting activities. Gun control advocates state that keeping guns out of the hands of criminals results in safer communities, while gun rights advocates state that firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens reduces crime. No wonder this is never ending debate because biggest weapon industries of the world belong to U.S itself.
President of the United States, (and five-star general during World War II) Dwight Eisenhower used the term “Military-Industrial Complex” in his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961: “A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction”. In response, next year, Russia reached to the necks of U.S which we remember as famous Cuban missile crisis.
That was the time when cold war was at its peak, and U.S was more concerned with showing their military might instead of planning something humane for humanity. Academic theories like “realism” which broadly dealt with inherent selfish nature of humans and nations prevailed worldwide which provided an academic cushion to justify heinous act of world powers.
Today in world, number of smoking deaths is far less than number of those who die with the use of man made weapons yet you will see myriads of anti-smoking campaigns around you, even on TV when any character smoke, they scroll a warning but why it never occurred in matter of guns. When a protagonist pierces hundred of enemies with one round of machine gun, why there is no warning. Why no NGO is interested in campaigning against the origin of all the bloodshed. Why video games containing violence are top grossing billions every year. Why we have start believing that guns and violence are the inherent attributes of human nature. Because corporations have made sure that nobody ask the obvious or challenge the foundations of the complex roots of violence.
So, before you pass a judgment for a 13 year mobile snatcher in Karachi for holding a gun, or you disgust that psychopath in America who killed dozen kids in the school or you analyze the teenager in Japan who killed around 18 people after getting addicted to grand theft auto or you present a complex theory regarding rise of militancy or terrorism, first think about their (arm corporate) cleverness and our innocence.
Nobody loves bloodshed, killing, terrorism or violence. Unfortunately the heartless marketers of violence have arranged the circumstances in a smart way that people must fear and in that fear they start loving guns.
