Musings: Gun Control and Moral Hypocrisy

The NRA's response to the gun control debate has exposed a deep hypocrisy in our moral discourse from both sides. In their statement, The NRA blamed violence in the media and in video games for events like the shooting in Newtown, CT. This is the same group that has used the argument over and over again that you cannot punish the majority for the acts of a few "crazy" people. They have argued that the government cannot take away or limit guns because the violence is not the fault of the guns but the fault of the individuals. This same group is now attacking the media for its portrayal of violence, taking the responsibility out of the hands of the individual and placing it on movies, TV. and videos games. Is the slogan now guns don't kill people, the media does? Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this?

Before this come across as a pure attack on the NRA, let me point out that the hypocrisy also exists on the other side. Those who know me know that I am fairly liberal. I support gun control and that I am also against the censorship of media and video games etc... My argument, like most people’s, has always been that violence in the media does not cause someone to commit violence, that violent people will already have had some sort of disposition to violence or will have had some stressor in their life to push them over the edge. It is people like me, who hold this view about censorship that so often cry for gun control, and now I see the hypocrisy in this as well. How can we take a hands off approach on one of the issues, and a position of censorship and control on the other. Hypocrisy rests on both sides. I know that both issues are far more complex than this portrayal, and yet we must recognize that there is some hypocrisy there. I do not have the answers on how to respond, I don't even know if the hypocrisy changes my stances, but I feel as though it is something that must be acknowledged before we move forward in discussions on both issues.