The Impact of Legislation on Violence
many movements and organizations, such as the NRA). On the other hand they have been viewed as a threat to peace, life and security. Queen Elizabeth certainly felt that the concealed wheellock was a threat to her own life -- though the underlying cause of the fear -- serious antagonism between clashing cultures (the Protestant culture and the Catholic culture in England) -- was more to the point of the matter. Guns, therefore, can be seen as a symptom of a much deeper problem in society -- a problem that runs in two opposite directions at once: firearms can be used for sport, to assert one's rights, and to protect one's home and country; they can also be used to take life in a malicious manner -- one's own or one's neighbor's. They can be used to threaten, harass, undermine and destabilize. The question of whether guns are to blame for violence or whether blame should be placed elsewhere is often mooted because administrators and leaders, like Elizabeth, have little interest or inclination… Continue Reading...
