So last weekend I went to a gun shop and shooting range to do the qualification shooting course on a pistol and an assault rifle for the navy. It was not required -- I elected to do it... mostly so I could get a couple more ribbons. The only ribbon that I have (given to every active duty sailor during the war on terror) was getting lonely.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about gun laws in this country, but to sum them up I will just say that although I oppose the absurd accessibility to weapons which have no redeeming value for use in hunting (and am embarrassed that we purport to be the leaders of the civilised world regardless of that), I think that the already-existing proliferation of said weapons is best met with legal venues for non-criminals to obtain them as well. But this post is not meant to discuss gun laws.
My first impression of the people working at the gun shop and the customers was that they must have been made to feel very small and weak as children growing up. How else to explain the way they crave security through mastery of lethal technology? I feel like gun culture basically comes down to reverence for things of power by people who would otherwise feel powerless. It seems really unnatural. And for the record, I'm not talking about hunting rifles. I'm talking about people who geek out over pistols, assault rifles and the like, priding themselves on knowledge that would really only ever be useful in the unlikely scenario that a violent burglar and/or murderer should break in to their home WHILE they were home and had easy access to one of their pieces... and also didn't lose composure in the heat of the moment.
But then I got thinking about the culture I DO identify with... progressives, buddhists, lovers of science... people who revere an ideal for humanity that in all likelihood will never manifest in more than isolated pockets. I am proud to be one of these well-meaning individuals who are only trying to make the world a better place, even in a small way, by proliferating wisdom and compassion. And I got to thinking: why be an apologist for my tribe and not the gun nuts?
When I considered the people in the shop beyond my initial, knee-jerk reaction, I could see more: that they were well-meaning individuals trying to make the world a safer place, even in a small way, by proliferating gun knowledge and responsible gun utility (the guns ARE already out there, after all). And to be fair, I've gotten some harsh, knee-jerk impressions of the types of folks who usually get into buddhism and other eastern spirituality (brainy, conflict-averse cat people who want a monumental justification for their natural tendencies and feelings of being special from having grown up unpopular... or maybe that's just me). But as with gun culture, there is more to this stuff than might first meet the eye (in my case a rather cynical eye).
The bodhisattva Jizo made a vow: not to attain enlightenment until all the hells are totally empty. This has been an inspiration for me in trying to expose folks in the navy to buddhism by practicing buddhism and joining the navy. Realistically, it would probably be just as hard to get a right-wing gun nut to take up meditation as it would be to get a bleeding-heart liberal to take up gun advocacy. But does that mean it's a waste of time? Absolutely not. I recall a quote from Siddhartha Gautama which advises that once we find a path to be good and true and worthwhile, that we follow it wholeheartedly. That is what I mean to do. My religion can be boiled down to living a worthwhile life.
And after all, reality seldom conforms to the broad strokes our minds (my mind) paint... so there are no such things as gun nuts and buddhists, and still we can manifest dharma together. I will practice my marksmanship in the hope that I never have to use it. Maybe one of those folks in the shop will think twice before buying another gun.
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