Resist the urge to offer gun advice

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2017 (2983 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is what it is.

And it will continue to be what it is.

“It” is the United States of America’s complex and deeply conflicted relationship with guns. In the wake of yet another mass shooting, there’s an almost-irresistible inclination for those of us on the chillier side of the Canada-U.S. border to look south with a combination of sadness and pity, and to offer a few words of unsolicited advice on how America can and should address its gun-violence issue.

We should resist that urge. Mostly, because it’s an American issue that requires an American response, but also because such suggestions are pointless in a discussion that never advances beyond elected officials’ obligatory calls, after each successive mass-shooting tragedy, for thoughts and prayers, along with vague observations that “this is not the time” to discuss gun control.

The aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings, in which 28 people — including 20 elementary school students — were killed, was not the time to discuss it. Then-president Barack Obama wept, calling for “meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this.” Politicians in the U.S. Congress balked. Not the time, they said.

The hours following the 2015 bloodbath in San Bernadino — 16 deaths and another two dozen wounded — were also deemed inappropriate to broach the subject of guns and violence.

After last year’s massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando — 49 dead, nearly 60 wounded — no appropriate moment was found for the hard conversation.

There is no good time to talk about gun violence and gun control. Such an American truth is self-evident.

The ideological perversion that is the National Rifle Association has so effectively corrupted the public’s understanding of the Second Amendment and so completely infected the American political process with money, hypocrisy and fear that there is a paucity of public appetite and an almost complete absence of political will for engaging in any meaningful dialogue or legislative process related to guns.

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So let’s just recognize that the American condition, when it comes to guns, is what it is. And if we, as Canadians, choose to continue to travel to the U.S. for business or recreation, let’s turn our thoughts instead to being prepared for what that reality might bring.

In America, keep your head on a swivel and your wits fully about you, and be prepared to react to whatever might unfold. If you’re in a crowd, be aware that someone might view that gathering as an opportunity for mayhem. Always know where the exits and possible escape routes are.

In America, keep your opinions to yourself. Don’t talk politics with strangers, don’t butt into other people’s business and don’t casually flip the bird at the person who cuts you off while you’re driving on the freeway. Straying into situations where you aren’t welcome could lead to a situation where you aren’t alive.

In America, understand that the gun issue is something you’ll never understand. Because it’s so deeply entangled in the psychological, emotional and ideological fabric of the nation, the toll associated with guns falls into the category of “unsolvable problems.” Adopting a holier-than-them posture or offering quaint Canadian advice on guns will not help.

Instead, just remember that it is what it is. And if America happens to be where you are, be mindful at all times of what you are: a potential victim of gun violence.