Bob Costas on Gun Control
Bob Costas stared at the camera with a steely-eyed glare, and then used the entire ninety second halftime segment of last night’s Cowboys vs. Eagles game to argue in favor of stricter gun control laws in the wake of Kansas Chief Linebacker Jovan Belcher’s murder suicide. Costas paraphrased and quoted from a piece by Fox Sports Columnist Jason Whitlock:
How many young people have to die senselessly? How many lives have to be ruined before we realize the right to bear arms doesn’t protect us from a government equipped with stealth bombers, predator drones, tanks and nuclear weapons?
Our current gun culture simply ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.”
Costas went on to say that has Belcher not possessed a gun, both he and Kasandra Perkins, the mother of their three-month old daughter would be alive today.
At this moment, I shrugged and turned off the television. The last thing I want to think about while I’m relaxing on a Sunday night is gun control and the Second Amendment. For me, football and politics should not mix unless the issue, like regulation of performance enhancing drugs, is germane to football. Costas’s rant felt like a low blow, an abuse of his invitation into my cozy family room, and like all guests who overstay their welcome, I showed him the door.
And yet . . . his words remain with me. I am angry as hell that another woman has died at the hand of an abusive man. It sickens and infuriates me that because he made a decision to murder a woman in cold blood, a little girl, no doubt once much loved, now faces an uncertain and tricky future. It’s a tragedy and my prayers go out to that little girl and to the family of the deceased.
My anger, however, is centered on the perpetrator. No one forced Belcher to murder his girlfriend. Nothing excuses his behavior. Nothing, and I mean nothing, mitigates his dastardly deed.
It is often said that guns kill people. Having taken a self-defense training course, and having learned more about handguns than I ever thought possible, I think this is overly simplistic. I can say for sure that in order for guns to kill people, a finger must pull that trigger.
While I appreciate and respect those who argue that the proliferation of guns increases the incidence of crimes involving guns, I’ve heard from police officers that criminals will always be able to obtain guns, lawfully or not. As the female police officer who trained us opined, “I want for as many good citizens as possible to arm themselves in a responsible way, to learn how to use those firearms responsibly, and to assist us in making the world a safer place from the criminals.”
This police officer went on to tell us some scary stories about criminals and would-be extreme right-wing members of local militias. “Please,” she added, “We need all the help we can get from the good citizens of the world. We’re fighting the good fight, but it’s dangerous out there.”
Her words chilled me a bit. And handling the pistol frightened me. She warned us, over and over again, to be careful, and to realize that a single mistake could result in serious injury or death. I felt empowered but also sobered after I fired the Glock on the firing range. And it’s unlikely that I’d ever own a handgun.
But I like being able to buy a firearm should I judge it in my best interests to own one. For sure, there are and should be some limits on the application of the Second Amendment to our modern life. I’m no firearm zealot. I believe a firearm can be both a tool and a weapon, and that in the wrong hands, a firearm can do much harm to the innocent.
Perhaps Costas is right. Perhaps we need to better enforce the current gun control laws. Perhaps Belcher should not have owned firearms. Or perhaps Belcher is yet another victim of the epidemic of concussions and perhaps the rash of violent acts by past or current football players is connected to this epidemic. Perhaps Belcher was using performance-enhancing drugs that affected his personality or made him mentally ill. Perhaps.
You see, we don’t have the answers, but the best way to find answers is to pursue them with clear minds and calm discernment. Costas’ rant from the bully pulpit struck me as ill-timed and misguided. Rather than solve a problem or encourage reasoned debate, he inflamed hearts and incited passions with his self-righteous anger.
My prayers go out to the family the Belcher and Perkins families, respectively. May Kasandra rest in peace, and may Jovan find in dying the peace that so tragically eluded him.
I’d love to hear your views on this issue. Please keep it civil and respectful.
Filed under: Football, gun control, Life, Philosophy, Politics, Sports Tagged: Bob Costas, football, gun control, Jovan Belcher, Kasandra Perkins, Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
