Race And Gun Violence

Sometimes, few people realize how much of a blanket term "asian" can be. Say "asian", and I think of people from the far east. They could be indian, korean, japanese or even iranian. I mean, the term refers to just about everyone from the asian subcontinent, including Russians! It is a huge place by the traditional definition. Even the Persians (now Iranians) from the movie 300 are actually asian.

So in light of the recent school massacre, one may be led to believe that people of the mongoloid races like chinese and japanese are pretty much all there is to being asian. Still, it is interesting that nobody seems to really regard indian as asian.

This makes for an interesting scenario. Would those of the mongoloid races be defending themselves against potential backlash from this tragedy, or would asians in general be worried about what may happen?

In fact, why would a particular race or ethnic category be worried about being blamed, associated or become the victim of a hate crime as a result of what another member of that group did? This merely spreads the crime of one person to a crime that involves an entire subsection of humanity. Sure, you can wipe out every member of a race that committed murder before. But then what if the murders persist? No humans, no problem. Still, prevention is better than cure. And I suppose nobody's really willing to cure the problem of humanity.

So this begs the question: How would we prevent these massacres in the future? Some suggest that the *citizens* be disarmed. This is all well and good, and is a great opportunity for the armed "authorities" to simply stomp all over the poor unarmed peasants and readily exert their authority at every turn.

I think it is far better to abolish guns altogether, if people are so horrified by gun crimes. After all, wars are merely gun violence at a national level.

Reduce gun-related deaths? Sure. Stop glamorizing guns and their usage in the popular media. Quit making gunfire synonymous with "patriotism". There seems to be little honour in going to a foreign land to shoot people just because someone said so, or you're hired to do so. It makes one little different from a hired assassin. The same applies to violence sponsored by any other "cause" and with any other weapon. I can kill with a club just as I can kill with a gun, after all.

I somehow doubt the contemporary bunch would find that solution particularly acceptable. Then again, one simply can't have the cake and eat it. Gun violence can never be eradicated unless people simply no longer have guns.