Never let it be said that Mr. Gabby Giffords will let a fund-raising opportunity go unexploited. Here he is in a recent email blast (h/t Chip K.) asking for a petition signature, but you can bet the beg-a-thon will commence shortly thereafter. And what’s his hook? Captain Fantastic explains that even that exemplar of lawlessness and wanton gunplay, Tombstone, Arizona, was ultimately wise enough to enact common sense gun control back when Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were jangling their spurs. Wait, doesn’t the Gun Control Industrial Complex always warn us that unless we restrict Americans’ constitutionally enshrined right to keep and bear arms, we’ll have blood flowing in the streets just like they did back in the Wild West? So…should we fear becoming like the Wild West or emulate it? It’s so hard to keep up . . .
Dear Charles,
When Gabby served in Congress, she represented Tombstone, Arizona.
You know the folklore: the OK Corral, the town that’s too tough to die, a symbol of grit and the Western ethos of gun ownership.
But you might be surprised to learn that even Tombstone took action to reduce gun violence, enacting gun safety measures that stopped visiting outlaws from carrying their firearms in bars and around town.
I share the story because many of our current attitudes about guns are derived from our origins as a frontier nation. The gun lobby draws on the popular but false myth that we kept order in the Old West by having good guys with guns go after bad guys with guns. But a history lesson tells us that our nation’s approach to guns has always held up both our rights and our commitment to keeping our communities safe.
In the aftermath of terrible tragedies like those that occurred at Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, and now Navy Yard, Americans expect meaningful legislative action that – like the policies of Tombstone, Arizona over 100 years ago – protects our rights and protects our communities.
That’s why over 75,000 people have signed our petition calling on Congress to revisit legislation to keep our communities safe from gun violence. Add your name to theirs today.
http://action.americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/tombstone
It’s unfortunate that it takes a national tragedy to re-ignite the conversation about gun violence in America. The tragic mass shooting at the Navy Yard occurred only blocks from a Congress that has repeatedly passed on making it harder for the dangerously mentally ill to obtain guns.
Let’s make sure they hear our voice this time.
Mark Kelly
Americans for Responsible Solutions