The Human Condition: Thoughts on gun control

By Daniel Schnee on June 1, 2022.

Why is it that though millions of responsible gun owners exist in the U.S. we see increasing numbers of mass shootings?

Is it to do with gun laws? Or access to assault rifles? I think it has to do with which particular part of gun culture one involves oneself.

Many people for example buy various guns to protect their home. They don’t collect guns or visit conventions, but rather own guns for reasons based in fear: “dread” culture. Others like to own big guns in order to vicariously participate in military culture. They wanna be like a soldier, thus they own guns as a way of participating in a kind of an “elite power” culture.

The vast majority though come from actual “gun culture”: discussing the engineering and history of various guns, and enjoyment of safe, responsible marksmanship. This also includes hunters, who seek to perfect their marksmanship to achieve their goals quickly and humanely. Thus, the kind of people who end up being mass shooters do not come from proper gun culture. This is because of several reasons.

Proper gun culture for example teaches a very high tolerance for frustration. Target shooters in particular need great patience and emotional control to excel. The Nordic sport of biathlon (skiing and marksmanship) even requires specialized skills to control the effects of one’s breathing and rapid heartbeat. One cannot begin to practice the sport seriously until they develop the prerequisite patience necessary for even its most amateur levels. I know one young marksman who used to be so overly precise and patient in his efforts he often had to reset multiple times before a single shot, due to changing conditions. This obsession with perfection leaves no room for negativity, thus emotions like anger and vengeance are disapproved of, rejected and purged.

Top marksmen also demonstrate a high degree of self-control, meaning they cope well with criticism, pain and failure. Gun culture teaches great resiliency and endurance; meaning greater personal achievement will be the form of “revenge” you seek. Military snipers themselves often have to either crawl through ditches filled with fecal matter or lay there silently and motionless being bitten by bugs, for hours. To do so without losing your cool is gun culture.

A lack of empathy is also not a hallmark of proper gun culture, due to the strenuous safety requirements, i.e. demonstrating care for one’s fellow gun enthusiasts. We are a community connected through a shared joy for things like skeet shooting; we like each other and don’t want anyone to get hurt. Those who feel isolated and rejected don’t share our feelings in this regard.

Proper gun culture never gets discussed in the media as well. Our way of life is always presented as “bad people with assault rifles.” There are millions of happy, responsible marksmen in the world, and I am one of them. You just never see us, because there is more money to be made from fear; from pretending anyone who goes near a machine gun is, at heart, a murderous lunatic.

Poverty, addiction and mental health initiatives are superior forms of gun control, because they end both the desire and perceived need for gun violence. Believe me… gun culture people hate gun violence, too.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist and jazz/rock drummer

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