There is no vaccine for stupid. Or to inoculate against the gun virus.
While the nation’s weary eyes are fixed on the deadly pandemic, another epidemic rages out of control. The latest estimate is that Americans possess about 400 million guns, enough for each man, woman and child and a good number of household pets. Armadillo comes to mind.
The two incurable diseases find co-morbid hosts in a great many Americans, perhaps most colorfully in the twin freshmen threats in Congress, Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Boebert owns a diner named Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo., a sly hint at her position on guns. During her campaign she violated public health orders by keeping Shooters Grill open, crowded and mask-free. Nothing says “stupid” quite like a superspreader diner filled with pistols and long guns. In her first days in Congress, she tried to slip past metal detectors with a Glock in her purse.
Greene’s “stupid” virus is more a conspiracy theory variant. She is an unabashed QAnon fan with a particular affection for “false flag” shootings. “False flag” shootings, as believed in the dark armpit of conspiracy theories, are things like the slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which the theorists believe was arranged by liberals to arouse support for gun control, as were the school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and elsewhere. The Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks were a government job, Hillary Clinton had a hit list and a pedophile ring. Any reports to the contrary are the work of the “deep state” and commie journalists. Greene has also suggested “executing” Democrats. I’ve never had dreams as crazy as her campaign platform.
I do not mention the deadly duo for a cheap chuckle: 215,279 Coloradans voted for Boebert. 229,827 Georgians cast ballots for Greene. Her campaign was so vicious that her opponent quit and ran away to hide in Indiana.
Boebert and Greene are just the legislative tip of a very dangerous iceberg that poses an urgent threat to the republic. Many observers are characterizing the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6 as a wake-up call, but we should have had eyes wide open long ago. Alarm bells have been ringing for years. A superb and terrifying piece in The New York Times Magazine this week describes, for example, the 22,000 “lobbyists” who arrived at Virginia’s Capitol building in Richmond a year ago, armed to the teeth, ready to persuade legislators to reject gun control efforts.
As most folks know, a group of “lobbyists” in Michigan were plotting to kidnap, try and execute Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Threats like these are arising in every state, and New Hampshire and Vermont are not immune.
This is what can happen when all the horses are out of the barn. I’m all for gun control, but at this point it seems fruitless. For decades our legislators, state and federal, were bought — lock, stock and barrel — by the gun lobby, most notably the National Rifle Association. Nestled in enclaves all over America there are Proud Boys, Boogaloos, Citizen’s Defense Leagues, Oath Keepers and scores more angry “militia” who believe they should legislate by way of their guns, and not just on behalf of their gun rights. They have more weapons and ammo than a mid-sized banana republic.
One of the frightening, not surprising, realties exposed on Jan. 6 was the number of insurrectionists who were current or former military, police officers and, breathtakingly, elected officials. Had Greene and Boebert not already been in the House chamber, they may have come in with the mob. I suspect they were with them in spirit.
If armed militia are confronted by law enforcement, it will be damn hard to know who’s on whose side.
The NRA is losing steam, declaring bankruptcy recently, but it really doesn’t matter. Their dirty work is done. The country is awash in firepower. It used to be that a low rating from the NRA was threat enough to derail any proposed gun legislation. Now the threat is a bullet in the head. I see little to no chance that any legislative body can pass gun control legislation without inciting violence and putting legislators at great peril.
And as we’ve seen, many elected officials, especially on the Republican side of the aisle, are not exactly profiles in courage.
It is tragically ironic that the Second Amendment, crafted to protect the blessings of liberty, is really a deadly curse.
Steve Nelson lives in Boulder, Colo., and Sharon. He can be reached at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.